Alt18F
@alt18f.bsky.social
Delivered effective, efficient, and secure digital services for the American people until we were forced to stop on March 1, 2025. Not an official government account. Reposts are not endorsements. Our new website: https://18f.org/ #AltGov
"Even as headlines portray a Social Security Administration struggling to recover from DOGE-era cuts, the administration is filling our inboxes with the claim that things are better than ever. The broader picture is that the legal institutions meant to police political corruption... are failing us."
The Federal Government is Emailing You Campaign Literature – Can Anyone Stop It?
Is it legal for Social Security to send you partisan propaganda? In theory, no…
donmoynihan.substack.com
"The DOGE Temporary Organization cannot escape responsibility for the conduct it undertook while it existed simply by reaching its expiration date."
DOGE was supposed to be dead. Its remnants are everywhere.
The fallout from Elon Musk’s cost-cutting venture can be found across the government if you know where to look.
washingtonpost.com
“We know what to do, but if we don't have personnel, a lot of it can't get done.”
The CDC Has a Cyclospora Lab. DOGE Downsized It Last Year
“Based on simple math, these outbreak responses—which require rapid, timely responses—are going to be greatly diminished,” the former CDC lab director tells WIRED.
wired.com
"A 2025 report from minority staff on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations estimated $21.7 billion in waste by DOGE during the first six months of its existence. Vought told Pocan he didn’t know how much was spent on DOGE workers ... ."
No plans for a DOGE after-action report, Russell Vought says
The OMB director essentially acknowledged DOGE’s phase-out and told House lawmakers he could provide an “assessment” of the Elon Musk group’s work if needed.
fedscoop.com
"Most of the few dozen websites [National Design Studio] has launched consist of a single page, where visitors can do little more than fill out a sign-up form."
Trump's plan to redesign every .gov website leads to AI-designed horrors
A year in, National Design Studio delays plan to update government web standards.
arstechnica.com
“It will have a chilling effect on federal employees engaging in whistleblowing activity. If they do not want to sign this nondisclosure agreement, not only would they be removed for failure to follow instructions on signing a document, but they’re .. going to be debarred from federal service ... ."
Trump administration expands options for firing federal employees deemed ‘unsuitable’ | Federal News Network
A final rule from OPM will require agencies to consider additional factors when determining whether federal employees should remain in their jobs.
federalnewsnetwork.com
"Digital service practitioners have spent a decade hearing firsthand what people actually want and need from government. That knowledge shouldn’t stop at delivery—it should drive the strategy."
How to Build Better Digital Service Teams, Initiatives, and Results
The digital government field has an opportunity to build a more responsive and resilient government by pushing into new frontiers, with new tools, approaches, and even organizations that don’t exist y...
fas.org
"Schofield said he is speaking publicly for the first time because he believes Americans need to understand how government data can be misused and, in some cases, already has been." Another courageous act from a civil servant choosing to honor their oath.
Trump officials planned to mark 2.7 million living people as dead, whistleblower claims
A former Social Security executive said the plan, which was not carried out, would have used a death database to pressure immigrants to leave the country.
washingtonpost.com
"It is not a contract between equals. It is a loyalty oath, enforced with the full weight of federal prosecutorial power, demanded of people who already swore a different oath — to the Constitution."
Trump wants all federal employees to sign NDAs
A breathtaking expansion of the culture of governmental secrecy
donmoynihan.substack.com
"The app includes videos and messaging that are overtly political or directly related to campaigns, the type of material with which employees are typically discouraged from engaging while on the clock due to the non-partisan nature of their work."
The White House is ordering agencies to place its new app on all employees’ government phones
The newly created, often overtly political app places the Trump administration into unprecedented and “dangerous” territory, IT experts say.
govexec.com
We've been doing a little tidying up at 18f.org—a good opportunity to remind folks that the 18F guides and blog are archived on the site for anyone to use. After all, they belong to you!
18F: We’re dedicated to the American public. And we’re not done yet.
For over 11 years, non-partisan civil servants at 18F proudly served the American people to make government technology work better.
18f.org
"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 ... "
Peter Arnell, designer behind Pepsi and Tropicana rebrand failures, named first US chief brand architect for 27,000 government websites
Peter Arnell is now America's first chief brand architect, tasked with unifying 27,000 federal websites by July 4. The studio has already failed accessibility audits.
thenextweb.com
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.
When Procurement Optimizes for the Status Quo
A few months ago, I did a quick scan of the solicitation for California's CalHEERS system. CalHEERS is the state's healthcare eligibility, enrollment, and retention system, the technology backbone tha...
linkedin.com
"'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."
US judge rules humanities grant terminations by DOGE were unlawful, discriminatory
A federal judge ruled on Thursday that the terminations of hundreds of humanities grants last year by the Trump administration's so-called Department of Government Efficiency were unconstitutional, ...
reuters.com
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."
GAO report on DOGE payments access ‘just the tip of the iceberg’ | Federal News Network
GAO's latest report found Treasury didn't follow basic security protocol in granting a DOGE staffer access to sensitive payments information last year.
federalnewsnetwork.com
"'... DOGE ... literally just wanted to shut everything off. I kind of describe them as like children playing in a toy spaceship pressing the buttons.'"
USAID Whistleblower Says It Was Even Worse Than People Knew
Political appointees wanted a quiet drawdown, the whistleblower says. DOGE wanted an execution.
wired.com
"'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.'" ............
GSA looks to automate a million work hours, after losing nearly 40% of its workforce | Federal News Network
GSA is nearly halfway to its goal, and began this work internally. But its deputy administrator said the project could expand outside GSA if deemed successful.
federalnewsnetwork.com
"[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."
What the death of Direct File tells us about state capacity
We CAN have nice things - if we want them
donmoynihan.substack.com
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-...
How did procurement get here? Why are we still here? | Randy Hart
My contracting shop started planning a $600M "digital" contract in 2002 that was awarded in 2006. We fended off a $1B change request from the vendor in 2008 and mostly went back to paper....That was l...
linkedin.com
“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."
Partnership for Public Service statement on relocation of U.S. Forest Service headquarters
A nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working towards effective government for the American people.
ourpublicservice.org
“'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.'”
Inside DOGE’s early days of pressure campaigns, rule breaking and ‘chaos’
Twenty-three hours of court testimony offer a rare glimpse into the Trump cost-cutting group that officials say “felt more like a club” than the agencies they were breaking.
govexec.com
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...
Depositions in MLA-ACLS-AHA Lawsuit Over the NEH - YouTube
As part of a lawsuit brought by the Modern Language Association, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the American Historical Association, two key ...
youtube.com
Modern Language Association@modernlanguage.bsky.social · 5mo agoThe MLA, @acls1919.bsky.social, and @historians.org have filed a motion for summary judgment in our lawsuit to restore the NEH. Discovery documents reveal that DOGE rather than the acting chair led grant terminations and targeted grants using ChatGPT. More at mla.org/NEH-Lawsuit
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.
Explore Financial Disclosures From President Trump and 1,500 of His Appointees - ProPublica
Use this database to explore potential conflicts of interest for President Donald Trump and his team. The documents disclose positions officials have held outside government, their assets and their de...
projects.propublica.org
“'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.'”
New White House design team aims for ‘delightful’ websites — changing design ethos in the process
Trump’s chief design officer says that his work shouldn’t be controversial, but his team’s track record has raised questions about who their websites are for, who they leave out and whether the White ...
nextgov.com
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."
Federal CIO tapped for dual-hatted role at GSA
Greg Barbaccia will serve as the acting Technology Transformation Services director and senior advisor to the administrator at GSA, while its previous lead, Thomas Shedd, will remain with the agency i...
nextgov.com
