Pentagon tech development employees resign, cite DOGE pressure
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Employees at the Pentagon's Defense Digital Service are looking to resign, after DOGE sidelined them instead of collaborating on Defense Department operations.
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The Pentagon is seen from Air Force One as it flies over Washington, March 2, 2022 (AP)
Nearly all staff of the Defense Digital Service, the Pentagon's tech development arm, are resigning over the coming month due to pressure from the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, according to the director, three anonymous team members, and internal emails, Politico reported on Monday.
Originally nicknamed the Pentagon’s “SWAT team of nerds,” the Defense Digital Service represented one of the department’s first major attempts to integrate Silicon Valley’s innovation-driven culture into its vast bureaucratic structure.
According to Politico, Jennifer Hay, director of the 14-person office, is set to leave by May 1, joined by eleven other employees opting for President Donald Trump’s deferred resignation package, while the two remaining staffers are also exiting.
Hay revealed that her staff had initially anticipated collaborating with Musk’s initiative to automate Pentagon operations and integrate AI, "The reason we stuck it out as long as we have is that we thought we were going to be called in," she said, only to find themselves sidelined by DOGE’s approach, according to interviews.
“The best way to put it, I think, is either we die quickly or we die slowly,” Hay added.
Recent years saw DDS grappling with staffing challenges amid reported political infighting, hiring freezes, and mounting bureaucracy. A May 2024 watchdog audit also revealed unauthorized tech waivers by former directors. Yet all interviewed employees stressed they wouldn't have resigned without DOGE's pressure.
A Pentagon spokesperson told Politico that while they wouldn’t address the resignations directly, the Defense Digital Service’s operations would be consolidated under its parent organization, the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office.
One former senior Pentagon official, who requested anonymity due to fears of potential retaliation, criticized DOGE's expanding influence within the Defense Department as destructive and counterproductive, arguing that rather than genuinely implementing AI or improving efficiency, the department was simply "smashing everything".
US judge orders DOGE to release records
Last month, a US judge instructed Elon Musk's DOGE to release its internal documents, stating that the agency’s efforts to reduce government size have been marked by "unusual secrecy."
US District Judge Christopher Cooper remarked that DOGE's authority "across the federal government and the dramatic cuts it has made with no congressional input appear to be unprecedented."
In his court opinion, he noted that the "rapid pace" of DOGE’s actions "requires the quick release of information about its structure and activities."
The judge emphasized this need was "especially so given the secrecy with which (DOGE) has operated."
Cooper argued that the entity is "likely covered" by the Freedom of Information Act and said that "the public would be irreparably harmed by an indefinite delay in unearthing the records."
This comes after Musk privately assured Republican lawmakers on March 7 that he is not responsible for the mass layoffs of US federal workers, sparking nationwide controversy.
Both Musk and Trump appear to be distancing the former from the sweeping job cuts of the past two months, despite their public endorsement of such measures. The tech mogul has previously advocated for eliminating entire federal agencies, answered questions on the topic alongside the US president, and even wielded a chainsaw at an event to symbolize his stance, all while facing legal scrutiny and expert criticism.
