A series of US Government Performance Board staff resigned to protest Elon Musk

"We have pledged to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution throughout the presidency. However, it has become clear that we can no longer fulfill that commitment," 21 employees of the Office of Government Efficiency (DOGE) wrote in a letter to White House Chief of Staff Susan Wiles, published on February 25.

These employees, who make up about a third of DOGE's workforce, originally worked for the United States Digital Transformation Service (USDS) before President Donald Trump signed an executive order renaming the agency DOGE.

Billionaire Elon Musk, an adviser to Mr. Trump, is behind DOGE. A group of personnel loyal to Mr. Musk has been mobilized throughout the government to cut payroll and spending.

Musk said the 21 people who resigned were former employees of the previous administration who had been working remotely and refused to return to the office despite Trump’s request. “If they don’t resign, they will be fired,” Musk wrote on the social network X.

The tumultuous transition began on January 21 with a series of lightning interviews conducted by people wearing White House visitor badges, who questioned staff about their political allegiances, attempted to sow division, and “demonstrated limited technical capabilities,” according to 21 DOGE staffers.

Tensions escalated on February 14 when about a third of USDS employees were emailed termination notices. The layoffs were involved in modernizing key government systems such as Social Security, veterans benefits, tax returns, health care and disaster relief platforms.

“Firing them endangers the millions of Americans who rely on these services every day. The sudden loss of such skilled technology workers makes critical systems and American data less secure,” the letter said.

The 21 said they refused to participate in what they said were "efforts to compromise core government systems, endanger sensitive American data, or disrupt critical public services."

The DOGE employee resignations come after 2 million US government workers and employees received an email asking them to explain what they have done or face the risk of being fired.

US media reported that engineers at DOGE are researching new software that could support mass layoffs of government employees.