A key Pentagon tech unit has quit — all at once — in protest of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), according to a report from Politico.
The Defense Digital Service (DDS), often called the Pentagon’s “SWAT team of nerds,” was built to inject Silicon Valley speed and creativity into the Defense Department. Since 2015, the 14-person team has delivered fast solutions during major crises — from the Afghanistan withdrawal to sending aid to Ukraine and tracking enemy drones.
Now, it’s over.
With DOGE in charge, the entire DDS team is walking away, and the unit will shut down by the end of the month.
“Without the program, some key efforts to streamline the DOD’s tech talent pipeline and counter adversarial drones will be sunsetted,” reported Politico’s Mohar Chatterjee.
The team says they originally stuck around because they believed they’d be part of Musk’s new plans.
“The reason we stuck it out as long as we have is that we thought we were going to be called in,” said Jennifer Hay, DDS director. She plans to leave by May 1. Eleven others are taking the deferred resignation package offered under former President Trump. The last two staffers are also leaving.
“Every employee interviewed said they wouldn’t have left if it wasn’t for DOGE,” Chatterjee wrote.
One former senior Pentagon official told Chatterjee: “Musk’s team is not really using AI. What they’re doing is smashing everything.”
Get the full report on Politico.
