A US government service called “18F” that was set up to help find federal agencies IT cost savings, has been abruptly abolished with all staff laid off.
18F was described as a team of software engineers and strategists that helped “government agencies build, buy, and share technology products.”
It provided expertise on “how to budget for, procure, and oversee software development projects, to reduce risk and wasteful spending.”
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Former staffer Waldo Jaquith posted:“It was a cost-recoverable org, charging agencies for their expertise, using a consulting model.
He added: “Its cost to government was negligible, its benefits huge. My team there once saved DoD [Department of Defence] $500 million.” (18F used Interagency Agreements to set up the terms of its projects, and billed partners through Intra-Governmental Payment and Collection (IPAC) on a monthly basis.)
18F: An open letter
Its team said in an open letter: “18F was doing exactly the type of work that DOGE claims to want [yet] all employees at 18F – a group that the Trump Administration GSA Technology Transformation Services Director called ‘the gold standard’ of civic tech – were terminated today.”
It was shut down at midnight on a Friday.
The letter added that the move represents the “most recent [move] in a series of a sledgehammer approach to the critical US teams supporting IT infrastructure. Before today’s RIF, DOGE members and GSA political appointees demanded and took access to IT systems that hold sensitive information. They ignored security precautions. Some who pushed back on this questionable behavior resigned rather than grant access.”
What was 18F?
18F was part of the federal General Service Administration (GSA) and loosely named after its headquarters in Washington, DC: 1800 F Street.
A GSA spokesperson told The Stack that the 18F office was “notified on Friday, February 28, that they had been identified as part of GSA’s Reduction in Force (RIF) and reorganization plan and were being separated from federal service… This action was taken in support of the following Executive Orders: “The Hiring Freeze”, dated January 20, 2025; "Eliminating the Federal Executive Institute", dated February 10, 2025; and the "Implementing the President’s Department of Government Efficiency Workforce Optimization Initiative", dated February 11, 2025.”
The GSA spokesperson added: “No other TTS programs were affected. GSA is committed to fully supporting impacted employees as they transition from federal service. GSA will continue to support the Administration’s drive to embrace best in class technologies to accelerate digital transformation and modernize IT infrastructure. This includes understanding what solutions are the most effective and necessary to meet the needs of our customer agencies and the American taxpayer.”
Billionaire investor Mark Cuban posted on Bluesky that its team should form a consultancy: "... it's just a matter of time before DOGE needs you to fix the mess they inevitably create. They will have to hire your company as a contractor to fix it, but on your terms. I'm happy to invest/help."
"No orderly transition"
Stunned members of the office said in an open letter that the office’s closure “was a surprise to all 18F staff and our agency partners.
“Just yesterday we were working on important projects, including improving access to weather data with NOAA, making it easier and faster to get a passport with the Department of State, supporting free tax filing with the IRS, and other critical projects with organizations at the federal and state levels.All of that work has now abruptly come to a halt.
“Since the entire staff was also placed on administrative leave, we have been locked out of our computers, and have no chance to assist in an orderly transition in our work. We don’t even have access to our personal employment data. We’re supposed to return our equipment, but can’t use our email to find out how or where…” the organisation said.
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Will Sullivan of GSA’s Technology Transformation Services: “18F has had such an impact on my career and perspective on how high-functioning, cross-functional, user-focused government, teams, and organizations can make exponential impact for the public good – as well as increasing government service efficiency, eliminating fraud, and waste.”
Former 18F Executive Director Lindsay Young posted on Linkedin: “We assembled amazing teams of technology professionals from different specialities who could work together and learn from each other.
“We shared what we learned with everybody. I saw, time and time again, where we stood up for partners who were getting taken advantage of by vendors, or just needed help turning a vision into reality…We didn’t upsell anyone, we tried to teach our partners how to do what we did.”
Another person closed to the situation posted on BlueSky: "[The kind of thing] they worked on were the new free tax file service at the IRS where you can just file your taxes for free without having to pay TurboTax. Really basic stuff that the government should do and should do well.
"One additional point, when DOGE first showed up at TTS a few weeks ago people all had to sit for 15 minute interviews with those Elon micro bros you’re read about. In every case I heard of, they refused to identify themselves beyond their first name. The point of these quick interviews was basically to explain to these guys why you worth employing. There was one legendary front end programmer who TTS had recently managed to recruit in quite a coup for the agency. He apparently resigned on the spot."
Affected? Want to talk about a project, savings you helped deliver or federal IT procurement challenges in general? Email or Signal @thestack.01
