The Pentagon’s Defense Digital Service (DDS) will shut down by May 1, following the resignation of nearly all 14 staff members. The office, launched in 2015 to bring Silicon Valley-style tech innovation into the Department of Defense, will cease operations after its leadership and team opted to leave due to administrative pressures.
Twelve of the office’s employees, including Director Jennifer Hay, submitted deferred resignation requests and plan to depart by the start of May. The two remaining staffers are also stepping down. The mass resignation was first reported by Politico and confirmed by The Hill through interviews with current staff and internal communications.
DDS staff said they were increasingly sidelined as The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) took control of digital modernization efforts across the government. Hay said the team originally believed it would be brought into Musk’s plans to automate Pentagon systems using artificial intelligence. Instead, they were left out of key decisions and initiatives.
A current staff member reportedly told The Hill that DDS had become non-functional under recent conditions, citing hiring freezes, revoked remote work options, and travel restrictions. The member said that these restrictions left the team unable to carry out its mission.
DDS was created under former Defense Secretary Ash Carter to address rapid technology needs within the military.
It reportedly played a role during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan by developing response tools, and it helped create systems for tracking aid to Ukraine. The team also worked on cybersecurity initiatives and drone detection technologies.
In recent years, DDS struggled to remain fully staffed, and a 2024 audit found issues with unauthorized tech tool waivers issued by previous directors.
A Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment on the staff resignations but said DDS’s functions would be absorbed by the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office. Hay confirmed that most active DDS projects have been reassigned to other parts of the department to ensure continuity.
Hay said DDS staff tried to stay hopeful that they would be included in DOGE’s plans but ultimately realized that was unlikely. “The best way to put it, I think, is either we die quickly or we die slowly,” she said.
