Billionaire investor Mark Cuban waded into the latest government tech shake-up on Saturday, offering support on the social network Bluesky for newly laid-off federal workers whose job it was to make government tech work better.
His message, which quickly gained traction, urged the displaced engineers and designers to turn the upheaval to their advantage.
“If you worked for 18F and got fired, Group together to start a consulting company,” wrote Cuban. “It’s just a matter of time before DOGE needs you to fix the mess they inevitably created. They will have to hire your company as a contractor to fix it. But on your terms. I’m happy to invest and/or help.”
Cuban’s offer came after the government’s General Services Administration (GSA) abruptly gutted its 18F technology unit, which helps other government agencies build, buy, and share tech products. Per Politico, the layoffs affected roughly 70 individuals who learned the news around 1 a.m. Eastern time on Saturday. Among other things, the unit had reportedly built Login.gov, a secure and private way for the public to access services at government agencies, including Social Security and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The group itself has since described its members as “non-partisan civil servants,” posting a statement that “18F has worked on hundreds of projects, all designed to make government technology not just efficient but effective, and to save money for American taxpayers.”
The early-morning layoffs tie to a Trump administration directive to shrink the federal workforce and slash spending at the behest of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The cuts weren’t a first for 18F; according to Politico, two dozen more 18F employees were laid off in February when GSA cut probationary staffers.
Those impacted in the wee hours of Saturday morning also received emails late Friday from DOGE with the subject line, “What did you do last week? Part II.”
According to Politico, the emails — prompting employees to list their weekly accomplishments by Monday — were widely distributed across multiple agencies, including the State Department, the IRS, and the NIH.
In the wake of these new layoffs, Cuban’s proposal presents an intriguing possibility: Could the very workers pushed out of government help reshape the future of civic tech on their own terms? As DOGE moves to dismantle agencies, even Musk has acknowledged fallout tied to the speed with which his team is moving. On Wednesday, Musk shared that, “For example, with USAID, one of the things we accidentally canceled — very briefly — was Ebola prevention.” (Public health experts have since said the government’s support has not been fully restored.)
The question now is whether some percentage of the government’s growing number of displaced former employees will seize the moment, banding together to build the startups that could one day sell their expertise back to the government. If so, it would represent a striking twist in the administration’s efforts to shrink the public workforce.
If Cuban has his way, at least one such unit, 18F, may find itself inside a private company the government has no choice but to rely on. Indeed, that statement provided by the team yesterday says they are “still absorbing what has happened” but that they “aren’t done yet.”
Another Bluesky user even has a branding idea for the startup, telling Cuban on Saturday, “Name the new company 18FU.”