Billionaire-investor Mark Cuban waded on Saturday in the latest government-technical shake-up and placed an unexpected range of support for newly dismissed federal employees on the social network Bluesky.
Are messageThat quickly got a grip, urged the displaced engineers and designers to take advantage of the revolution.
“If you worked before 18F and was fired, you group together to start a consultancy,” Cuban wrote. “It’s just a matter of time before Doge needs you to repair the mess that they have inevitable. They will have to hire your company as a contractor to resolve it. But on your conditions. I am happy to invest and/or help. “
Cuban’s offer came after the General Services Administration (GSA) of the government abruptly has taken out its 18F technology unit, which helps other government agencies to build, buy and share technical products. Per politicoThe dismissals had about 70 people who learned the news around 1 o’clock east on Saturday. Allegedly the unit had reportedly built Login.GOV, a safe and private way for the public to gain access to services at government agencies, including social security and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The dismissals in the early morning bind to a Trump administration guideline to reduce the federal workforce and to engage the expenses on behalf of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge). The cuts were not a first for 18F; According to Poloo, two dozen more 18F employees were fired in February when GSA cut probation staff.
Those affected in the early hours of Saturday morning Also received E -mails at the end of Friday of Doge with the subject line: “What did you do last week? Part II. “
According to Polico, the E -mails – which encourage employees to mention their weekly performance by Monday – were spread on a large scale over several agencies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the IRS and the NIH.
In the aftermath of these new dismissals, Cuban’s proposal offers an intriguing opportunity: can employees help the government to reform Civic Tech on their own conditions? While Doge is about dismantling agencies, even Musk has recognized that the fallout is linked to the speed with which his team is moving. On Wednesday, Musk shared that, “for example with USAID, one of the things we canceled – Very short – was Ebola – Prevention. (Since then, public health experts have said that the government’s support has Not fully recovered.)
The question now is whether a percentage of the growing number of displaced former government employees will grab the moment, together to build the startups that can sell their expertise to the government one day. If so, this would be a striking turn in the efforts of the administration to reduce the public workforce.
If Cubaan has its way, at least one unit can be within a private company on which the government has no other choice but to trust. Another Bluesky user even had a brand idea for the startup, Tell Cuban“Name the new company 18fu.”
