The employees originally worked for an agency that dealt with digitalization, which was transformed into Doge (Department of government efficiency) after President Donald Trump took office on January 20 and entrepreneur Elon Musk essentially took over the department.
In a joint letter, the 21 employees write that they will not implement the changes required by the agency because they put the USA at risk. They also write that they refuse to use their technological expertise to "dismantle necessary social functions".
The group also warns that many of those recruited by Musk to cut large parts of the state administration are ideologues who lack the skills and experiences required to perform their tasks well.
Musk himself downplays the significance of the resignation:
"They would have been fired if they hadn't resigned", he writes on X.
