A group described as the Pentagon’s ‘SWAT team of nerds’ is quitting the Department of Defense after being pressed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. 

The Defense Digital Service was founded in 2015 to bring ‘Silicon Valley-style innovation’ to the Pentagon. 

Director Jennifer Hay said that her team was ready and waiting to be a part of DOGE, helping bring further efficiency to DOD by adopting automation and AI.  

‘The reason we stuck it out as long as we have is that we thought we were going to be called in,’ Hay told Politico. 

However, they were instead not used at all and a former Pentagon senior official said that Musk’s DOGE working with the Defense Department has been destructive. 

‘They’re not really using AI, they’re not really driving efficiency. What they’re doing is smashing everything,’ the anonymous official said.

DOGE reportedly pressured DDS members to make a decision on their futures and now the entire staff is set to quit over the next month. 

Every employee claimed that they would have stuck it out had it not been for DOGE’s intrusion. 

The Digital Defense Service (pictured in 2019), a group described as the Pentagon's 'SWAT team of nerds,' is quitting the Department of Defense after being pressed by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency

The Digital Defense Service (pictured in 2019), a group described as the Pentagon’s ‘SWAT team of nerds,’ is quitting the Department of Defense after being pressed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency

Director Jennifer Hay said that her team was ready and waiting to be a part of Musk's (pictured) DOGE, helping bring further efficiency to DOD by adopting automation and AI

Director Jennifer Hay said that her team was ready and waiting to be a part of Musk’s (pictured) DOGE, helping bring further efficiency to DOD by adopting automation and AI

The program will be shut down with the last of the employees either quits or accepts Donald Trump’s deferred resignation package at the end of April.

After that, Hay will leave on May 1, effectively ending the program.

‘The best way to put it, I think, is either we die quickly or we die slowly,’ she said.

Employees said that the department had been dying slowly in recent years, not being able to work at full strength due to hiring freezes, government bureaucracy and politics, making it an obvious target for DOGE. 

There were even audits claiming that DDS had corruption afoot, with directors giving out unauthorized waivers for various tech instruments.  

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Pentagon and the Defense Digital Service for comment. 

A Pentagon spokesman told Politico the DDS functions would be taken over by the Department of Defense’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office. 

While Musk has said the Department of Government Efficiency is only auditing the federal government for signs of fraud and waste, much of the public sees it as a national security threat.

While Musk (pictured left) has said the Department of Government Efficiency is only auditing the federal government for signs of fraud and waste, much of the public sees it as a national security threat

While Musk (pictured left) has said the Department of Government Efficiency is only auditing the federal government for signs of fraud and waste, much of the public sees it as a national security threat

'They're not really using AI, they're not really driving efficiency. What they're doing is smashing everything,' the anonymous official said of Musk's intrusions into the Pentagon

‘They’re not really using AI, they’re not really driving efficiency. What they’re doing is smashing everything,’ the anonymous official said of Musk’s intrusions into the Pentagon 

According to President Trump in March, around 100 people currently work for DOGE, with many of them being in the middle or very beginning of their careers as software developers, Supreme Court clerks, consultants, or corporate financiers.

Despite receiving praise from some in the tech industry like Knight, violent protests disrupting the billionaire’s businesses have pushed President Trump to admit that Musk will need to return to the private sector and oversee his companies in the near future.

Although the president said each federal agency would keep working with the DOGE team, there’s already speculation that the workers streamlining America’s computer systems will disappear too – leaving the US in the same tech mess it’s been in.

The White House has already pushed back on Musk quitting his budget-slashing role in Washington, with Trump saying he wants the Tesla and SpaceX CEO in charge ‘as long as possible.’

DOGE was officially signed into existence on January 20, 2025 by executive order of President Trump, with a mission to ‘modernize Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity’ by July 4, 2026.

As of April 4, DOGE reported that their cost-cutting measures have saved taxpayers $140 billion. 

Much of this savings comes from canceling diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) contracts, auditing government credit card use, and reducing fraudulent spending – such as social security payments to individuals listed as being over 150 years-old.

However, the DOGE experts assigned to various agencies throughout Washington have also cut down on mind-boggling expenses for repairs to the government’s cyber systems.

DOGE advisor Sam Corcos said that the US government is decades behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget in their efforts to modernize their digital technology

DOGE advisor Sam Corcos said that the US government is decades behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget in their efforts to modernize their digital technology

Musk recruited Corcos and other tech experts to audit the government and recommend major cost cuts to improve efficiency

Musk recruited Corcos and other tech experts to audit the government and recommend major cost cuts to improve efficiency

This includes one DOGE employee discovering the US Department of Veterans Affairs was ‘paying ~$380,000/month for minor website modifications.’

‘That contract has not been renewed and the same work is now being executed by 1 internal VA software engineer spending ~10 hours/week,’ DOGE wrote on their blog.

Despite finding a fortune in government waste, the DOGE staff has drawn intense criticism in just two months – mainly because many people don’t know who they are.

Musk and the White House have been slammed by political opponents for the unconventional recruitment of the DOGE team (largely through X), the lack of transparency in the process, and their unprecedented access to sensitive government systems. 

Moreover, actions like terminating thousands of IRS employees, canceling over 1,000 government contracts, and targeting agencies like USAID for closure have disrupted services nationwide and brought lawsuits from both Democrats and federal unions.

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