Nearly the entire staff of the Defense Digital Service (DDS), the Pentagon’s rapid-response tech unit, is resigning by the end of April following pressure from the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency. The resignations will effectively shutter the decade-old office, with its functions to be absorbed by the Pentagon’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office.
Created in 2015, DDS was known for fast-tracking technological solutions during national security crises, developing tools during the Afghanistan withdrawal, supporting aid delivery to Ukraine, and building drone detection systems. Once labeled the Pentagon’s “SWAT team of nerds,” the 14-person team brought Silicon Valley-style innovation to the military.
Director Jennifer Hay and 11 others plan to leave by May 1, with most taking President Donald Trump’s deferred resignation offer. The two remaining staffers are also set to depart. Hay said the team had hoped to be involved in Musk’s AI and automation push but were ultimately sidelined by DOGE.
“The reason we stuck it out as long as we have is that we thought we were going to be called in,” said Hay. Instead, she and others said, they were pushed out. “The best way to put it, I think, is either we die quickly or we die slowly.”
