"Where USDS and 18F prioritized function, accessibility, and the needs of underserved populations, the studio’s mandate emphasizes beauty, delight, and the visual language of consumer technology. The distinction is not trivial ... "

I'm not generally in the habit of posting links to LinkedIn here, but I've got to recommend @randyhart.bsky.social's long, important piece about the problems of government software projects that are compelled to optimize for the status quo, and thus fail. I wish I'd written this.

"'The Government engaged ​in blatant viewpoint discrimination,' U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon said in condemning what ⁠the Trump administration cast as a crackdown on diversity practices."

Until next time, Chicago! #cfasummit was an opportunity for catching up with old friends and kicking around new ideas —we’ve got some good conversations started, and we’re not done yet.

"DOGE sought access to systems across the federal government, and we still don’t know what happened to the personal data they got their hands on."

"'... DOGE ... literally just wanted to shut everything off. I kind of describe them as like children playing in a toy spaceship pressing the buttons.'"

"'And then we put out a call to our workforce to say, ‘Hey, you’re kind of mid-career talent. Would you be interested in doing a second job, in addition to your day job?’ Not a second paid job, but you’ll be part of this programming.'" ............

"[The administration's characterization of Direct File] has it completely backwards. It is a calculation that only makes sense if you do not value the time and money of citizens, but regard the government doing anything to help the public as a burden."

It’s tax season and Direct File is dead. I went on the Killswitch podcast with @dexdigi.bsky.social to talk about what we built, who killed it, and why I’m certain it’ll make a comeback.

I posted a thing on LinkedIn about government procurement. I'm officially a professional adult. www.linkedin.com/posts/randy-...

“Agency relocations do not create more effective or efficient government. ... These relocations do not bring our government closer to the people it serves. In fact, nearly 87% of the federal workforce is already working nationwide outside of Washington, D.C."

“'What I told [the DOGE team] was that these are the procedures in place that we normally follow. ... They said that there was no need to follow the procedures, and if there was litigation, which has since occurred, this would be addressed in the litigation.'”

Videos of the depositions of Michael McDonald, Adam Wolfson, and DOGE staffers Justin Fox and Nathan Cavanaugh are available in our playlist at www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

NEW: Over the past year, we've been collecting thousands of financial disclosure documents from across the Trump administration. Now we're making them searchable. Look up names, assets, former employers across 1,500+ Trump appointees and 3,000+ ethics documents.

It’s been one year since the elimination of 18F. 🧵

“'There’s an animated GIF of Joe Gebbia throwing a punch at the camera. What is that about, in [relation] to governance and serving the American people? I don’t know what that has to do with me as a taxpayer that’s funding this team.'”

Though this hasn't received much news coverage, we're sharing in case our community is interested in reading the report in full. Link in 🧵.

"During his time at GSA, [outgoing director Thomas Shedd] has overseen layoffs across TTS, including shuttering 18F ... . ... experts raised questions about ethics and conflicts of interest regarding his employment setup, as he’s on a leave of absence from Tesla while working for the government."

More than a year after its formation, I continue to track DOGE's activities and try to shed light on their staffing based on what limited information I can find. dogetrack.info

"I think the administration knows that employees will appeal if given the opportunity to do so, and that some of those appeals are justifiable, so they are trying to lessen the number of successful appeals and the ability for employees to fight these actions.”

New, from me: Trump finalized his Schedule F policy, allowing him to remove job protections from career civil servants. The new rule is dishonest and unmoored from reality in its effort to formalize the politicization of the federal government 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/trumps-sch...

A manual for ICE's immigrant-targeting computer system, Palantir ELITE, was leaked today. Let's look at it, then step back to evaluate how far we've come along a dangerous road and where that road might take us. 🧵

The fundamental question facing civic tech in 2026: Who should technology serve? One Year In: What We Know the Trump Administration Means for Public Interest Technology - a reflection from @publicgood.tech @civictechallies.bsky.social @wethebuilders.org community.publicgood.tech/c/announceme...

New, from me: A year in, did DOGE deliver on its promises? Not the promises it made to us (cut spending, modernize government, improve services). It worsened state capacity. But it was part of a successful broligarchy exercise in state capture. 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/a-year-on-...

"What took generations to build is being dismantled in months, and with it goes not just expertise but what remains of the shared American faith in expertise itself."

Lord help me, the National Design Studio is back on their bullshit. realfood.gov This website weighs in at 16 (*six.* *teen.*) MB. The full game of the original DOOM was 12MB. 1/

"... a former product manager at the U.S. Digital Service said the Trump administration laid off, fired, or offered deferred resignations to 'amazingly talented' engineers and data scientists earlier this year and is now searching for replacements with less experience. 'It’s comical.'"

This tweet from Big Balls says the new “Tech Force” website is their first using the “America Design System.” Here are just a few reasons why that sucks. 🧵

"The creation of the Tech Force follows the administration’s hasty closure of several of the government's existing technology teams ... . In March, GSA dismantled 18F, an internal government tech consultancy group, after Elon Musk posted on X that the group had been 'deleted.'” 🤷‍♂️

"The existing NDS sites therefore behave more like billboards than public infrastructure. ... What makes this shift hardest to justify is that the federal government already had ... [an] office whose job was to actually make government UX work better. From 2014 to 2025, that work lived inside 18F."

DOGE may no longer be moving across the government in a move-fast-and-break-things blitz, but its affiliates appear to be digging in for the long haul—and Silicon Valley–shaped fingerprints remain all over the way agencies continue to be run.

In September, I (and many other accessibility advocates) reviewed the America by Design website, finding sloppy AI-generated code and accessibility bugs. @notus.com wrote on it, and also spoke to many amazing folks from @alt18f.bsky.social and @ethanmarcotte.com www.notus.org/trump-white-...

The "DOGE is gone" articles are clickbait but this one gets it closer to the truth: DOGE is not gone, it just claims to have "no centralized leadership" anymore -- in other words, its leadership is hiding in an attempt to avoid blame.

"It's hard to see [accessibility issues on new .gov sites] as anything but a deliberate choice. That also sends a clear message of who this administration feels has a place in American life, who is worthy enough to access information and services and who is not worth their time."

From 18F alum @matthenry.fyi: "If [sites like America By Design] are any indication of what was coming down the pike as the future of government websites, it's a bad sign for the people who have to build and maintain those sites, it's a bad sign for USWDS, and it's a bad sign for you as a user ... "

Cool to see this state-level design system tracker by @beeckcenter.bsky.social. Contrary to the beliefs of some—design is so much more than branding and beauty. And it looks like at least MD and NJ are using USWDS as a base (and maybe soon CO). digitalgovernmenthub.org/publications...

🏆 Join us Dec 2 for the Digital Service Champions Awards! Celebrating government teams & civic tech champions transforming how digital services meet community needs. Free virtual event, 12 PM PT / 3 PM ET RSVP: usdigitalresponse-org.zoom.us/meeting/regi... #CivicTech #GovTech #DigitalGovernment

The administration has pulled the plug on IRS Direct File, a tool that helped eligible taxpayers file for free. This decision comes despite Direct File’s immense popularity with its users.

A new .gov domain was registered yesterday: techforce.gov. It resolves to an auth page that identifies it as part of the National Design Studio. Trump and Musk eliminated 18F and destroyed USDS, and now the feds are scrambling to rebuild the capacity that they destroyed.

“[Borges] ... told his young child he had to make a difficult decision. 'I said that sometimes you make difficult choices, sometimes you have to do what’s right. My child understands right and wrong, and sometimes even doing what’s right has consequences.'"

" ... DOGE is jeopardizing Americans’ most sensitive data, while its employees operate under a layer of secrecy that shields them from meaningful oversight and accountability. This environment results in serious cybersecurity vulnerabilities, privacy violations, and risk of corruption ... "

Our thoughts are with the public servants caught up in the latest round of RIF notices. We've said this before, and we'll repeat it now: You matter. Your work matters.

"What sets Kupor’s efforts to attract tech talent apart from his predecessors' is the fact that they come after sweeping cuts pushed by DOGE. ... The entire 18F office at the General Services Administration ... was laid off in the spring."

Our friends at @usdigitalresponse.org are hosting the 2025 Digital Service Champions Awards to recognize folks doing great work in #civictech. Nominations close this Friday, October 10. ⏳ Government awards: usdr.link/champions-government Individual awards: usdr.link/champions-individual

🗣️ We're hosting an archival version of "plainlanguage.gov" to help make sure this trusted resource remains available to folks who need it.

"The inspector general’s office for the General Services Administration ... said it will look at the impact of several DOGE-backed projects at GSA—including its mass termination of government leases and its decision to shutter its tech office 18F."

"Bringing new tech into the government requires a deep understanding of how it works at every level, from hiring to budgeting and procurement policy. But ... the DOGE team did not try to understand how the government worked."

Hey all, I'm trying a new layout for some tables in DOGE track to hopefully make things a little easier to follow. I'm really liking it, but let me know feedback! dogetrack.info/agencies/gsa/