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The General Services Administration (GSA) has axed a technology unit that developed key public-facing IT services like Login.gov, the central login system for key government services like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.
The decision, unearthed in an internal memo seen by Politico, was ordered by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as part of broader Trump administration plans to cut government spending.
The unit—known as 18F—was founded in 2014 and played a role in numerous high-profile projects, including redesigning the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division’s complaint submission process, as well as the free online tax return service IRS Direct File.
18F was a cost-recoverable office, meaning it charged agencies for its work. "GSA funds 18F through the Acquisition Services Fund (ASF), which allows for investment in the development and delivery of products and tools that will be used by other agencies on a reimbursable basis," according to its website.
The cuts were announced at 1 a.m. ET on Saturday morning, Politico says. They affect about 70 employees, including product and account managers, procurement specialists, user interface engineers, researchers, and front-end, content, and service designers.
18F had been subject to ideological attacks in recent months. In February, DOGE lead Musk retweeted a post that called the group “far left” and claimed it “viciously subverted Trump during his first term.”
“That group has been deleted,” Musk said at the time.
The news follows the US Digital Service, which provided consultation services to federal agencies on information technology, being gutted earlier this month and renamed the US DOGE Service. USDS laid off 40 employees, while 21 resigned in protest last week, leaving less than half of its original workforce remaining.
The abrupt move to axe the agency left many 18F employees in the lurch. 18F staff alleged in an official statement that they had been locked out of their computers and emails, leaving them "no chance to assist in an orderly transition of our work." The former staff claim they can’t even find out where to return their equipment, due to their lack of email access.
Meanwhile, many senior executives at the former US Digital Service allege that the rapid transition to DOGE is bringing new risks to federal IT systems. Vivian Graubard, a founding member of the US Digital Service, alleged in a LinkedIn post that DOGE engineers were "walking in and getting access to highly sensitive systems without proper clearances or vetting."
Other commenters said that the swift, sudden cuts could open the door to private sector contractors swooping into the federal government. Don Moynihan, a professor at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, claims that DOGE "appears to be a temporary wrecking crew paving the way for aligned Silicon Valley vendors to fill the gap" and that removing "18F will make that easier."