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Efforts to gut<\/span> the federal workforce by Elon Musk\u2019s so-called Department of Government Efficiency significantly derailed operations at a Pentagon tech team with a key U.S. military role, according to materials reviewed by The Intercept.<\/p>\n Beginning nearly a year ago, DOGE embarked on an aggressive and legally dubious effort to gut the administrative state by unilaterally shuttering programs, pushing out personnel, and terminating contracts. Its effort to downsize the government leaned on the Office of Personnel Management\u2019s \u201cDeferred Resignation Program,\u201d essentially a voluntary buyout plan that offered nearly 2 million federal employees the option of entering administrative leave rather than working under the second Trump administration. In the ensuing HR chaos, the Washington Post reported<\/a> that \u201cthe employees who have resigned amount to about 6.7 percent of the government\u2019s civilian workforce of 2.3 million people.\u201d<\/p>\n Defenders of DOGE, including Musk, have claimed the project solely ferreted out fraud, waste, and abuse. But according to a December 2025 contracting memo from the Defense Information Systems Agency, DOGE\u2019s tactics caused major problems at the Pentagon\u2019s IT office \u2014 which is core to the operation of the U.S. military.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The memo describes how DISA\u2019s Command, Control, Communications, and Computers Enterprise Directorate, known as J6, was hobbled by DOGE cuts to such an extent that it was unable to obtain necessary software. This unit is responsible for maintaining secure channels that keep the Pentagon connected to military assets around the world, including nuclear capabilities.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring calendar year 2025, the DISA\/J6 program office has been unexpectedly and significantly impacted by Government programs that incentivized personnel separation or extended periods of leave,\u201d the memo reads, \u201ce.g., Deferred Resignation Program, Voluntary Early Retirement Authority, Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments, Paid Parental Leave.\u201d<\/p>\n A second DISA memo notes that the Deferred Resignation Program resulted in the departure of an officer responsible for an important Pentagon cloud-computing contract, resulting in that contract expiring entirely. The DOGE-induced staffing shortage resulted in a situation, according to the memo, where DISA\u2019s systems faced \u201cextreme risk for loss of service\u201d across the Department of Defense.<\/p>\n While DISA operates behind the scenes, its globe-spanning networks are critical to the armed forces, explained DISA J6\u2019s then-director <\/a>Sharon Woods in a Pentagon-produced June 2025 interview: \u201cCommand, Control, Communications, and Computers \u2014 it is what underlies everything and the department\u2019s ability to communicate with itself.\u201d Asked what would happen on a day where DISA J6 couldn\u2019t operate, Woods replied<\/a>, \u201cIn my mind, it cripples the Department [of Defense]\u2026 This is really a mission where failure is not an option.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n