On Valentine's Day, I received a note that overturned my life. “Due to restructuring and changes in USDS mission, USDS no longer requires services,” he read.
Over the past 30 years as a cybersecurity expert, I knew the previous night I had called on Doge to speak to the individual list of current and former US digital service workers to speak to them to volunteers at a meeting organized by group federal workers.
I don't regret my decision. This is not the time for federal workers to make safe and self-presented choices. If a dedicated civil servant had the time to act with courage, then it's now.
Writing this creates more risks. I have been trying my best to scrub data from the internet for the past few days. The wealthiest man on earth Maybe I'll send his minions after me. Anyway, I'm writing this. Because in doing so, we hope that in some way we can contribute in order to save our country from those who want to destroy it.
This is not a lazy rhetoric – things are as bad or bad as you think.
I left the private sector in 2023 to join the USDS. The missionThe idea of the establishment of “to get the greatest benefits for the largest number of people in the greatest need,” bringing private sector technical expertise into public services, modernizing and making the government system more effective. Given the background in cybersecurity and engineering, I was assigned to the Department of Veterans Affairs. There, it provided information security monitoring for the department's flagship website Va.gov.
On Veterans I attended an organization where capable and dedicated civil servants were placed, rather than the caricatures of laziness and incompetence that President Trump and Elon Musk make us imagine. The biggest challenge facing VAs is not the quality of their people, but the fact that they weren't good enough. And now there Even less.
When playing cards Created The government's efficiency department grafted it to the side of the USDS like a tumor on his first inauguration day. According to the executive order, “D” in USDS now stands for Doge. Trump also signed Order exemption Members of the DOGE team for mandatory background checks and drug testing are imposed before all other federal employees and contractors have access to sensitive data and systems.
Doge has installed the founder of a Singapore-based telemedicine startup.Justin FullcherVirginia. At 32, Fulcher is spelled by the so-called department standard. However, in addition to his loyalty and shared ideology, he does not have an identifiable qualification for his job. I don't know if he will pass the background check. The day before I was fired, he1,000 VA staff members have been firedFor unspecified “performance” reasons.
So the institutions that are so much responsible for taking the state's promises to veterans into national promises – the institutions that were already understaffed and overworked, have become even greater. On the departure the next day, they lost the only government official to oversee VA.Gov's cybersecurity. And under another Recent Presidential OrdersVA (and all federal agencies) can only replace one of us after first firing the other four.
Please take a look Path Doge took it. Starting with the Human Resources Administration, he cut down on staff and gained unfair privileged access to the Treasury Department, the IRS, the Social Security Agency, and now the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
The people on this federal smash and grab tour did not receive votes, congressional reviews, or even background checks. But they now have access to very sensitive personal information about almost all of America, taking advantage of an unknown level of control over all government payments, staffing and internal security controls.
You may suspect that there is nothing “efficient” about this, and perhaps it doesn't require my cybersecurity expertise to recognize that this represents a major risk to our collective security.
Despite all this, I was never invited to do so because I still believe in that mission. Someone needs to do it – why isn't it me?
But for now, I can at least say something I couldn't say publicly when I wanted to be part of the breakwater against the internal doges. You did not make a vow to musk, Trump, political parties, or worldviews. This is not the time to play, wait or watch safely, or expect the best. Be brave, stick to your principles, and stand up for our democracy.
Someone needs to do that. Why isn't it you?
Jonathan Kamens is a civil servant and engineer with over 30 years of cybersecurity experience. On February 14th, he was fired By Doge From his position at the Veterans Affairs Bureau.
