Regarding the Sept. 22 front-page article “Memoir details culture clash surrounding DOGE’s mission”:
Of the many assertions from the former U.S. DOGE Service official Tyler Hassen, one particularly struck me. He pointed to spelling errors in a contractor’s project description as evidence of systemic government dysfunction. Yet DOGE was riddled with dysfunction.
When the Government Accountability Office examined DOGE’s “Wall of Receipts,” GAO found serious problems with DOGE accounting: GAO could not verify the method used to calculate 96 percent of reported grant savings. Taxpayers still lack an authoritative accounting of DOGE’s alleged savings, but we do know there were substantial costs. GAO calculated that the government spent about $6.7 billion in salary costs associated with the deferred resignation program alone. And litigation over DOGE’s actions continues.
But this extends beyond dollars. Hassen described long hours away from his daughter. I think about my former co-workers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who were abruptly fired and lost their health insurance amid a mass-termination process that a federal judge later called a “sham” strategy. After retiring from the Navy after 24 years of service, I worked as a federal civilian employee at NOAA. In February 2025, I was abruptly let go as part of the government-wide employee terminations, despite reduction-in-force protections and an exceptional progress review. And after well over a year, my case remains pending before the Merit Systems Protection Board.
The full damage caused by DOGE may take years to understand. An insider’s memoir can contribute to that history, but there’s way more to the story than the record he wants to set straight.
Hendrick Simoes, Riverdale Park
I’m willing to take Tyler Hassen at his word that he and most of his DOGE co-workers were doing the best job they could for the American people.
Here is the problem that neither Republicans nor Democrats want to address. The national debt is $40 trillion, with an estimated $1.27 trillion to be spent on interest payments in 2026 according to the Treasury Department. In fiscal 2025, the government spent about $7 trillion.
The top three spending categories in fiscal 2026 are Social Security, interest and Medicare. However Congress looks at it, it will not sufficiently address the national debt unless they confront spending on Social Security and Medicare. Their costs are not approved or renewed annually; they grow based on already established formulas.
Republicans and Democrats march the United States deeper into debt hand in hand, insulting each other at every step instead of doing what needs to be done to address the U.S.’s most expensive programs.
George Khalsa, Sterling
I was struck by the photograph accompanying the Sept. 22 front-page article of the DOGE team working late in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, pizza boxes in the forefront. I felt that DOGE was a macho publicity stunt, and this photograph just reinforces that.
What struck me was that there were no women in the picture. The group consisted of 14 men, many of whom look very young.
While I agree that the national debt is out of control and there are surely cost-cutting measures that should be taken, the people making changes should represent the experiences of all Americans and be led by bipartisan officials who have the expertise and institutional knowledge of government departments.
Theresa Early, Colorado Springs
In defense of red tape
Philip K. Howard’s Sept. 17 op-ed, “How red tape replaced common sense,” suggested that government officials have been trained to avoid exercising judgment. I am a retired federal official, and that is not the training I received. Instead, I learned that government and democracy are messy.
Efficiency is not the only goal of government; of equal importance are equity, due process, protection of individual rights and accountability. In the end, the American people will not tolerate a government that efficiently fails to protect liberty and individual rights.
There are plenty of common-sense regulations, such as rules that help improve airline safety and keep food uncontaminated. In a democracy, regulatory policies should be determined only by political negotiation, expertise and compromise. The democratic political process determines the right balance of regulation and deregulation, as it should.
Joe Pegnato, Reston
Philip K. Howard argues that regulation deprives leaders and functionaries of the ability to exercise their judgment. Yes. That is exactly its point. He’s right that regulation slows action and can be sclerotic. That is exactly its point. Due process takes time.
There are downsides of regulation, as Howard points out, but there aren’t only downsides. People are biased and fallible. Regulations can be biased and fallible, too, but they help provide recourse. How much regulation is too much (or too little) will constantly be debated, but we do need common-sense regulations to keep society fair and treat like situations alike.
William M. Cusmano, Arlington
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