[Sahil Lavingia]

I personally don't think his decision to join DOGE was defensible, but there are lots of interesting details in Sahil Lavingia's diary of the 55 days he worked there.

For example:

"I was excited to help in-source VA's software, but I was also realizing why so much of it was outsourced. For example, I was constantly constrained by my restricted government laptop, which made it difficult to write and run code. I couldn't install Git, Python, or use tools like Cursor, due to government security policies.

Fixing the root of the problem–making it easier for employees to execute–would require congressional intervention, and it was more practical to continue spending lots of money outsourcing the software development to contractors."

Of course, that's not what DOGE set about fixing. Even if it had wanted to, these sorts of changes weren't within its remit. Instead, it was responsible for harmful work like reductions in force and scanning contracts for any mention of DEI. (He characterizes this as "a contract analysis script using LLMs to flag wasteful spending".)

And then there's this:

"In reality, DOGE had no direct authority. The real decisions came from the agency heads appointed by President Trump, who were wise to let DOGE act as the 'fall guy' for unpopular decisions."

It's worth taking this with a pinch of salt. Is this real? Is this propaganda to help Musk save face? It's hard to say.

But it certainly makes fascinating reading.

#Democracy

[Link]