Pentagon Innovation Unit Collapses as Staff Resigns Due to DOGE

The Defense Digital Service (DDS), a key tech innovation team inside the U.S. Department of Defense, is shutting down after nearly all of its employees submitted their resignations. 

According to a report from Politico, the resignations, set to take place over the next few weeks, come under mounting pressure from the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). By the end of April, the program — often referred to as the Pentagon’s “SWAT team of nerds” — will effectively cease to exist.

Here is What You Need to Know

Created in 2015, DDS was designed to bring Silicon Valley-style speed and problem-solving into the traditionally slow-moving Pentagon. The team helped build digital tools during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, created databases for coordinating aid to Ukraine, and developed early drone detection systems.

But without DDS, some of those key efforts — including work on tech talent recruitment and counter-drone programs — are expected to be shelved.

A Mass Exodus

Jennifer Hay, the current director of DDS, confirmed she would leave by May 1, as per the report. Eleven of the office’s 14 employees have opted to take President Donald Trump’s deferred resignation package before then. The remaining two staffers also plan to depart.

“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 said, her team was largely ignored by DOGE.

Functions to Be Absorbed

A Pentagon spokesperson suggested that the functions of DDS would now be absorbed by the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO), a larger umbrella group overseeing tech modernization across the Defense Department.

Other government tech initiatives have also suffered under DOGE’s direction. The U.S. Digital Service, known for its role in tech modernization, has been folded into DOGE amid significant layoffs. Another group, 18F, which operated under the General Services Administration, has been shut down entirely.

‘We Die Quickly or Slowly’

The dismantling of DDS represents a broader shift in how the U.S. government approaches digital innovation — and raises questions about the long-term future of agile, crisis-focused tech programs within defense and beyond.

“The best way to put it, I think, is either we die quickly or we die slowly,” said Hay.