Musk’s DOGE begins firing workers at US federal IT department
ELON Musk’s DOGE team is sending termination notices to staffers at the US Digital Service, a group of federal IT workers that Musk’s group is taking over, according to two people who were affected.
For weeks, USDS employees, who have worked as information technology experts for the US government since the Obama era, have been sitting in limbo. Even though the digital service and Musk’s so-called Department of government Efficiency are technically the same entity now – renamed the US DOGE Service – USDS has been used more as a vehicle for Musk to hire his own team.
The termination letters sent to more than a dozen people starting on Feb 14 came from “US DOGE SERVICE” and cited President Donald Trump’s Jan 20 executive order establishing DOGE as the reason.
“Due to the restructuring and changes to USDS’s mission, USDS no longer has need for your services,” one letter said, according to a copy shared with Bloomberg.
The White House and the Office of Management and Budget did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.
The dismissals are part of a wave of thousands of terminations across the federal government spurred by Musk’s efforts to rapidly overhaul the federal bureaucracy. Many of those receiving termination notices across the government are probationary employees, who have worked for the government for less than a year.
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Before Musk’s team came in, USDS offered information technology and other help to federal agencies. Last year, when the Education Department’s federal student aid portal’s revamp went haywire, USDS was the team that helped rebuild it.
Remaining staffers were told separately by the US DOGE Service that they must return to a physical office by April 15, according to a copy of the note sent to the staffers seen by Bloomberg. BLOOMBERG
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