Sahil Lavingia Removed from Doge: Founder's 55-Day Tenure

Sahil Lavingia’s Account of His Time with the DOGE Team

Sahil Lavingia has recently shared a detailed diary entry concerning his involvement with the DOGE team, a temporary organization established following an executive order from President Trump. His experience within this group was relatively brief, spanning only 55 days, yet it offers valuable insights into the structure and operations of this unique governmental entity.

Background on Sahil Lavingia

Lavingia is a prominent figure in the tech industry, recognized for his early contributions to Pinterest and currently serving as the founder of Gumroad, a platform designed for creators to market and sell their products. He is also an active seed and angel investor within Silicon Valley.

Initial Expectations vs. Reality at the VA

Lavingia joined the DOGE team in mid-March as a software engineer assigned to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). He initially anticipated significant inefficiencies within the 473,000-employee agency. However, he was surprised to find that the VA operated under strict regulations regarding layoffs, prioritizing factors like seniority and veteran status.

He quickly realized that performance metrics were not always the primary consideration when evaluating personnel for potential reductions. Furthermore, Lavingia observed that the DOGE team itself wasn’t functioning with optimal efficiency.

The Role of DOGE: Advisory, Not Authoritative

As a volunteer contributor with no salary, Lavingia’s initial task involved identifying potentially “wasteful” contracts and recommending personnel for layoffs. He described DOGE’s role as akin to that of a management consulting firm, such as McKinsey.

DOGE lacked direct decision-making authority; agency heads appointed by President Trump ultimately made the choices, strategically utilizing DOGE as a scapegoat for unpopular decisions.

Echoes of Elon Musk’s Perspective

This assessment aligns with recent statements made by Elon Musk to the Washington Post, where he characterized DOGE as a “whipping boy” for Washington, D.C., unfairly blamed for every unfavorable outcome.

Motivations and Projects

Lavingia’s decision to join DOGE stemmed from a desire to leverage his coding skills for public benefit, a motivation sparked by his support for Bernie Sanders in 2016. He focused on projects that aligned with his interests, including improving the user experience of the VA’s existing LLM-powered chatbot.

Despite his efforts, he was unable to implement substantial changes, such as streamlining the process for veterans filing disability claims. He expressed frustration at not being able to ship improvements to production.

Open-Sourcing His Work

Lavingia was granted permission to open-source much of his work during his tenure. This included a tool for identifying terms related to DEI, gender identity, COVID policies, climate initiatives, and WHO partnerships within internal PDFs. He also developed tools utilizing LLMs for contract analysis and organizational chart creation.

Internal Challenges within DOGE

He noted a significant lack of knowledge-sharing within the DOGE team itself. “I wondered why there wasn’t a centralized DOGE software engineering playbook,” he stated, observing that each engineer often began their work from scratch.

Dismissal and Final Observations

Lavingia’s involvement with DOGE concluded abruptly on Day 55 after he discussed his work with a reporter from Fast Company. His access was revoked immediately following the publication of the interview.

However, the experience led him to conclude that the VA, despite its size and bureaucratic processes, “works.” He described the culture as characterized by numerous meetings but ultimately functional, and not as inefficient as he had initially expected.

The Dilemma of Modernizing Government

Lavingia’s experience highlights the challenges of modernizing large government agencies while maintaining their operational capacity. While reducing waste and incorporating new technologies are desirable goals, simply applying a startup mentality may not be the most effective approach.

Lavingia did not respond to a request for further comment on his experience.