Claims circulated in late February 2025 that current and former federal workers launched a new website intending to combat the spread of misinformation coming from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), formerly known as the United States Digital Service, which President Donald Trump renamed in an executive order on Jan. 20, 2025.
Users on Reddit posted in the r/fednews subreddit with links to the website, trying to determine if it was legitimate or, as one user put it, a "phishing expedition by bad actors."
(RosetteNewcomb on Reddit)
The website in question is called We the Builders and the "Who We Are" section reads:
For decades, we've done our jobs in the background. We made it easier to file taxes, get veterans' benefits, and apply for financial aid. During times of crisis, we helped refugees navigate immigration processes, helped everyone find vaccines, and helped parents find baby formula.
Along the way, we made government websites easier to use while protecting the integrity of your personal information.
If they really wanted to know how to use technology to build a more efficient country, they would ask us.
But they haven't. They are destroyers.
We are the builders.
The "Our Mission" section of the site adds, "We don't work for DOGE. We have always worked for you. Here, you'll find stories from real government employees: How we save you time and money, how we protect your personal information, and how DOGE's dangerous dismantling of government technology puts you at risk."
Snopes is not yet giving a rating to this claim. A reporter reached out to a We the Builders media contact to verify that the endeavor is legitimately run by former and/or current federal staffers and will update this article with a definitive rating if new information arises.
On Feb. 21, 2025, The Verge reported about the website's formation, stating it was "founded by a dozen current and former federal workers" and claimed to validate its authenticity. The outlet wrote:
The website is aimed at informing the general public about what's happening inside federal agencies, as well as explaining how a database being accessed by DOGE in Washington, DC could impact citizens in tangible ways all across the country. "I want to make sure that people understand that data matters," says the former federal worker, who was granted anonymity for fear of retribution and harassment in going public, but whose identity has been confirmed by The Verge. "If I can explain that in a way that helps you to be able to protect yourself and advocate for yourself, then I'm doing my job."
We the Builders alleges to host blogs written by anonymous authors detailing a range of topics that shed light on what's happening in the federal government and that aim to provide insider knowledge for the general public.
One post, titled, "A tale of two efficiencies: U.S. Digital Service vs. DOGE," states in part:
Imagine two approaches to improving a complex machine. One involves carefully studying the blueprints, understanding how each part interacts, and making precise adjustments to optimize performance. The other involves tearing out components that look broken or superfluous at first glance, then checking to see if the machine still runs without them. In theory, either of these approaches might leave you with a more streamlined machine. The first approach will take longer, but it's a good way to avoid catastrophic failure. The second approach will be faster, and that might feel like a win at first. The machine might end up streamlined, but in practice it's more likely to just end up broken, or so fragile that it breaks later when it needs to rely on a part that's no longer there.
In the world of government modernization, this contrast mirrors the difference between the way the U.S. Digital Service has operated for the last 10 years, and how teams like DOGE operate under a "move fast and break things" mentality. It is a story of surgical precision aimed at lasting impact versus reckless destruction disguised as efficiency.
Musk's DOGE took over the offices of the U.S. Digital Service, an organization formed by President Barack Obama in 2014 as a response to the rollout of Healthcare.gov. The official website for the U.S. Digital Service is still online as of this writing.
Another post on We the Builders explained the U.S. Digital Service's previous role within government:
The U.S. government has been building boats (and planes and buildings and many other physical things) for centuries. And they're built right — mostly, the boats work exactly how they are supposed to. So when the digital revolution hit, and the government started building websites and apps, it did so in much the same way it had been building boats. And this was a problem, because you cannot build an app the same way you build a boat. And so the majority of government websites and apps are hard to use — and, by extension, they make it hard to access the government programs and services you need.
Enter U.S. Digital Service.
You may have heard that they "update government software" or "design government websites." While it's true that sometimes they do these things, the reality is far more profound: the U.S. Digital Service works directly with government agencies — who until recently have only had to build boats — to teach them how to build websites and apps that actually work.
One post on We the Builders at the time of this writing was "What would you say you do here," which comments on Musk's post on X (archived) claiming that all federal employees would be expected to write an email explaining "what they got done last week," or face resignation.
Other posts include "Why 'move fast and break things' doesn't work for government" and 'The real risks when your personal data is stolen."
We the Builders claims anonymous federal employees write all posts.
Further, the website links to a variety of related and similarly anonymous social media accounts, such as @federalworkersagainstDOGE on Instagram (archived), which shares news and resources related to federal workers' ongoing struggles with DOGE and whose bio reads, "Standing with federal workers against a corporate backed coup led by DOGE."
In sum, Snopes has not yet verified the legitimacy of the website, though its content and other reports claim it is authentically written by former and current federal employees operating anonymously for fear of professional repercussions.
