Billionaire investor Mark Cuban waded into the newest authorities tech shake-up on Saturday, posting an sudden supply of help for newly laid-off federal staff on the social community Bluesky.
His message, which shortly gained traction, urged the displaced engineers and designers to show the upheaval to their benefit.
“If you worked for 18F and got fired, Group together to start a consulting company,” wrote Cuban. “It’s just a matter of time before DOGE needs you to fix the mess they inevitably created. They will have to hire your company as a contractor to fix it. But on your terms. I’m happy to invest and/or help.”
Cuban’s supply got here after the federal government’s General Services Administration (GSA) abruptly gutted its 18F know-how unit, which helps different authorities businesses construct, purchase, and share tech merchandise. Per Politico, the layoffs affected roughly 70 people who discovered the information round 1 a.m. Eastern time on Saturday. Among different issues, the unit had reportedly constructed Login.gov, a safe and personal means for the general public to entry companies at authorities businesses, together with Social Security and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The early-morning layoffs tie to a Trump administration directive to shrink the federal workforce and slash spending on the behest of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The cuts weren’t a primary for 18F; in keeping with Politico, two dozen extra 18F staff had been laid off in February when GSA minimize probationary staffers.
Those impacted within the wee hours of Saturday morning additionally obtained emails late Friday from DOGE with the topic line, “What did you do last week? Part II.”
According to Politico, the emails — prompting staff to checklist their weekly accomplishments by Monday — had been broadly distributed throughout a number of businesses, together with the State Department, the IRS, and the NIH.
In the wake of those new layoffs, Cuban’s proposal presents an intriguing chance: might the very staff pushed out of presidency assist reshape the way forward for civic tech on their very own phrases? As DOGE strikes to dismantle businesses, even Musk has acknowledged fallout tied to the velocity with which his staff is transferring. On Wednesday, Musk shared that, “For example, with USAID, one of the things we accidentally canceled — very briefly — was Ebola prevention.” (Public well being specialists have since stated the federal government’s help has not been absolutely restored.)
The query now’s whether or not some share of the federal government’s rising variety of displaced former staff will seize the second, banding collectively to construct the startups that would at some point promote their experience again to the federal government. If so, it will characterize a putting twist within the administration’s efforts to shrink the general public workforce.
If Cuban has his means, at the very least one such unit could discover itself inside a non-public firm the federal government has no selection however to depend on. Another Bluesky consumer even had a branding thought for the startup, telling Cuban, “Name the new company 18FU.”
