More than 20 civil service employees resigned Tuesday from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), citing their refusal to use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services.”
Musk, the world’s richest man, and adviser to former President Trump, faced backlash as the departing staffers voiced concerns over the department’s mission, which have included thousands of layoffs and contract cancellations.
Newsweek has reached out to DOGE’s media contact via email on Tuesday morning for comment.
Why It Matters
DOGE, led by Musk, has been aggressively slashing the federal workforce and restructuring contracts in an attempt to cut spending. However, critics argue that the cost-saving claims are overstated and that many of the budget cuts have created inefficiencies rather than improvements.
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What To Know
The mass resignation of engineers, data scientists and product managers mark a temporary setback for Musk and the Republican president’s tech-driven effort to overhaul the federal workforce. Their departures come amid a series of court challenges aimed at halting or reversing attempts to fire or pressure thousands of government employees out of their jobs.
“We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations,” the 21 staffers wrote in a joint resignation letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. “However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments.”
The employees also warned that many of those recruited by Musk to shrink the federal government under President Donald Trump were political ideologues lacking the necessary skills or experience for the task ahead.
“Several of these interviewers refused to identify themselves, asked questions about political loyalty, attempted to pit colleagues against each other, and demonstrated limited technical ability,” the staffers wrote in their letter.
Some interviewers displayed a limited grasp of technical matters, while many appeared to be young, ideologically driven, and more motivated by admiration for Musk than by a genuine interest in improving government technology.
“This process created significant security risks,” the staffers said.
The resigning staffers had been part of what was originally the United States Digital Service, an office created during President Barack Obama’s administration in response to the failed launch of Healthcare.gov, the online portal for Americans enrolling in health insurance under his landmark health care law.
Many had previously held senior positions at major tech firms like Google and Amazon and had joined the government out of a commitment to public service.
That changed with Trump’s decision to empower Musk. The day after Trump’s inauguration, the staffers wrote, they were summoned to a series of interviews that previewed the opaque and disruptive operations of Musk’s DOGE.
The remaining 65 staffers were absorbed into DOGE’s government-cutting initiative, with nearly a third resigning together on Tuesday.
What People Are Saying
21 civil staffers wrote in a joint resignation letter obtained by the Associated Press: “We will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans’ sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services,” they wrote. “We will not lend our expertise to carry out or legitimize DOGE’s actions.”
Senator John Curtis, a Republican from Utah, said on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday: “If I could say one thing to Elon Musk, it’s like, please put a dose of compassion in this. These are real people. These are real lives. These are mortgages. It’s a false narrative to say we have to cut and you have to be cruel to do it as well.”
Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, said on Face the Nation on Sunday: “You’ve got Elon Musk taking a chainsaw to the federal government and important services, and there’s no Article 4 in the Constitution that gives Elon Musk that authority… the actions he’s taking are illegal, and we need to shut down this illegal operation.”
What Happens Next
Musk announced on X over the weekend that federal workers would receive “an email requesting to understand what they got done last week.” He added that “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
It remains to be seen whether, and how many, federal employees, will be removed from their posts after the deadline to respond to Musk’s email passes. On Monday, the Tesla CEO issued a new threat, writing that “subject to the discretion of the President,” workers would be “given another chance” to send over details about what they did last week.
As many of 200,000 federal government employees have lost their jobs amid mass layoffs in the first month of Trump’s second term.
This story contains reporting by The Associated Press.
This is a developing news story and will be updated as more information is available.
Update: 2/25/25, 11:23 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
Update: 2/25/25, 11:55 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
