One-Third of Musk’s DOGE Staff Resign, Citing National Security Risks
Around a third of employees at Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have resigned in protest, refusing to implement changes they say endanger the country.
“We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations,” 21 DOGE staffers wrote in a letter to White House Chief of Staff Susan Wiles, according to AFP. “However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments.”
The resigning employees were originally part of the U.S. Digital Service (USDS), which was rebranded as DOGE after President Donald Trump took office on January 20, with Musk effectively assuming control.
Musk, a key Trump ally and major political donor, has been directing operations at DOGE despite not holding an official ministerial role. He is classified as a “special government employee” and “senior adviser to the president” and is set to attend Trump’s first cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
DOGE has been at the center of a controversial effort to overhaul the federal workforce, with Musk deploying a close-knit group of loyalists to streamline government operations, cut spending, and shrink staffing.
Musk dismissed the resignations, calling the workers “political holdovers” who refused to return to the office as mandated by Trump. “They would have been fired had they not resigned,” he wrote on X, the platform he owns.
A Chaotic Transition
The letter from the resigning staffers describes a turbulent transition following Trump’s inauguration. According to the account, on January 21, employees were subjected to rushed interviews by unidentified individuals wearing White House visitor badges. These interviewers reportedly assessed political loyalty, attempted to sow division among staff, and showed “limited technical ability.”
Tensions escalated further on February 14, when roughly one-third of USDS staff were abruptly fired via anonymous email. These employees had been working on critical digital infrastructure, including Social Security, veterans’ services, tax filing systems, healthcare, and disaster relief.
“Their removal endangers millions of Americans who rely on these services every day,” the letter warned. “The sudden loss of their technology expertise makes critical systems and Americans’ data less safe.”
The employees also accused Musk and his team of pressuring them to compromise government systems, weaken data security, and dismantle essential public services—actions they say they could not support.
Mass Firings in the Federal Workforce
The resignations follow Musk’s controversial push to overhaul the federal workforce. Days earlier, he had sent a mass email to all two million federal employees, demanding they justify their positions or face termination.
Government agencies have largely advised employees to ignore the directive, but thousands of probationary workers—those recently hired, promoted, or reassigned—have already been dismissed since Trump’s inauguration.
According to Wired magazine, engineers at DOGE are currently developing software to streamline mass firings of federal workers, including those with stronger civil service protections. The system would automate the reduction-in-force process, making it easier to eliminate government positions.
Originally established in 2014 under President Barack Obama, USDS has historically been a nonpartisan agency focused on modernizing government technology. The mass resignations at DOGE signal growing concern over the Trump administration’s aggressive restructuring of the federal workforce.
