Stunning direct insight into the destruction of USDS from one of her own

This is the podcast I’ve been waiting for.

The new-ish podcast WatchCats got an extended interview with former USDS infosec pro Jonathan Kamens, who joined USDS in summer 2023 and was unceremoniously dumped in the DOGE purge in February.

Kamens shares his week-by-week direct experience of the drama in the months following the November election and the days following inauguration. It’s everything I suspected, and more.

The most shocking revelation? Kamens was considered to be a Cassandra amongst USDS leadership—his predictions of destruction were dismissed as overreactive and unrealistic because USDS survived Trump 1.0. They ignored the clear goals of Project 2025. They ignored Trump’s promise of revenge on any part of the federal government that didn’t serve his personal and psychologically-damaged interests.

If you want deep, direct insight into what happened when DOGE came to USDS and 18F, this is the story. Take a listen. And subscribe to the WatchCats podcast, because they plan to tell more stories of other teams decimated by Elon Musk’s minions.

You can also see Kamens’ devastating op-ed piece in The Hill called “I was fired by DOGE, but I am not a victim”.