A wave of resignations has hit Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), as 21 civil service employees walked out on Tuesday, refusing to aid what they called the “dismantling of critical public services.”
In a scathing resignation letter obtained by the Associated Press, the former staffers—engineers, data scientists, and product managers—stressed their commitment to the American people but said they could no longer stand by as the Trump administration pursued mass firings in the federal workforce.
A stand against government gutting
“We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution,” they wrote. “However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments.”
The resignations come amid mounting legal challenges to Trump and Musk’s aggressive push to shrink the government, a move critics say is politically motivated. The employees also warned that Musk’s hires for Doge were “political ideologues” lacking the necessary expertise for such a sweeping overhaul.
According to their letter, interviewers within Doge displayed limited technical understanding, often prioritizing political loyalty over qualifications. “Several of these interviewers refused to identify themselves, asked questions about political allegiance, attempted to pit colleagues against each other, and demonstrated limited technical ability,” they wrote.
New York steps in
Meanwhile, New York Governor Kathy Hochul is stepping up to absorb federal workers displaced by Doge’s cuts. On Tuesday, she launched an online portal inviting former federal employees to apply for state jobs.
“The federal government might say: ‘You’re fired,’ but here in New York, we say: ‘You’re hired,’” Hochul said in a videotaped statement. “In fact, we love federal workers.”
Musk doubles down
Despite backlash, Musk remains undeterred. Over the weekend, he announced that federal workers would receive an email “requesting to understand what they got done last week.” He warned that failure to respond would “be taken as a resignation.”
As legal challenges mount and political resistance grows, Musk’s vision for government “efficiency” is facing an uncertain future. But with as many as 200,000 federal jobs already on the chopping block, the real battle may be just beginning.
