Yesterday, WIRED published an absolutely fabulous article* by Lily Hay Newman about my being fired by DOGE and what that means for the cybersecurity posture of VA.gov.
It sure ain’t good, folks. What’s happening to the U.S. government right now is every bit as bad as you think it is, and probably a lot worse.
The end of the article captures the rot at the root of DOGE and the Trump administration:
“There were these interviews we all had to do with the DOGE people the day after the inauguration,” he says. “In mine, one of them asked me to describe what I was doing at VA and then said something like, ‘If you’re doing all that work, why aren’t you working in the private sector where you could be making twice as much money?’ And I said, ‘Because I don’t care about the money. I care about serving veterans.’
“I think the fact that someone asked me that question at all is really telling.”
Here’s what you can do to fight back:
- First, an easy one: subscribe to WIRED. It’s usually $30 per year but right now they’re offering a special: $10 for the first year. Their reporting on what Trump and Musk are doing is truly second-to-none. They are doing amazing journalism, and any media outlet doing good journalism right now needs our support.
- If you are a federal worker, support and defend the Constitution. You took an oath to do that, and this is where the rubber hits the road. Do not obey illegal orders. Do not do things that violate your agency’s rules and regulations just because people from DOGE think they can make you.
Yes, this is risky. Yes, you may face discipline or even termination. This is a time for courage, bravery, and principles, not for blending in and not making waves. If you don’t stand up for what is right now, you won’t be able to later. - Please let any federal workers you encounter know that you appreciate and support them. You have no idea how much your support means to them.
- Subscribe to the email lists for any of your U.S. senators and representative who are Democrats. You can find out who your electeds are here, and click through to their web sites where you will find instructions for subscribing.
Any Democratic senator or representative who isn’t emailing their constituents multiple times per week at this point letting them know what Trump and Musk are doing and what the senator/representative is doing to fight back isn’t doing their job. If yours fall into that category, then call them multiple times per week to ask why they’re not communicating with their constituents about what’s going on, and to let them know what’s the most important thing you’re worried about right now (5 Calls makes this easy!). The Republicans figured out decades ago that frequent communication is necessary to keep the base activated. How are Democrats still getting this wrong?
*Free link here if you can’t get through the WIRED paywall, but please consider subscribing as described above.
