The department [known as DOGE] is a decade old and had hundreds of employees, previously known as U.S. Digital Service. On Tuesday, 21 of those employees resigned in protest. In an anonymous letter, they said, quote, "we will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans' sensitive data or dismantle critical public services."
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SHAPIRO: You could have chosen to stay and try to work within the system. What was the tipping point that made you decide leaving was the best choice?
DK: The first real tipping point came when many of my colleagues were fired for seemingly no reason, when they had been performing exceptionally at their jobs and were dedicated to serving this country and to help improve this country's governmental systems. The second tipping point came when it became clear that the former United States Digital Service would be asked to become more involved with DOGE's activities. And those activities are the antithesis of what United States Digital Service was founded upon and what the mission has been - to do the most good for the most amount of people, to go where the work is and to hire and empower great people, which means supporting our agency partners and uplifting the federal servants. I realized that my actions would - if I stayed, would just further legitimize DOGE and potentially cross extreme ethical and legal lines.
SHAPIRO: Cross ethical and legal lines how?
DK: Some of the activities that DOGE has currently been focused on are gaining access to government systems that house the American people's data. And with that, it is unclear whether they are upholding privacy and security standards that are regularly practiced throughout the government before the new administration came in. There's a high risk of the American people's data being exposed or being utilized for nefarious means. And it also creates the opportunity for potential foreign actors to come in and get access to that data as well. That is completely across the line both legally and ethically, and something I realized I could no longer do good from the inside and that I must leave.
Now if only the rest would quit.