Some 70 researchers, product managers and others within the office of 18F were notified in the early morning hours Saturday of their termination, according to a report in Politico.
18F is a digital consulting office within Technology Transformation Services (TTS), which is part of the General Services Administration. It was launched 10 years ago in March 2014 by a group of Presidential Innovation Fellows and has helped to bring about technology features like myUSCIS, an immigration portal; eRegulations, a platform for easily finding government regulations; and the site login.gov, a single logon for accessing the Social Security Administration, Veterans Affairs, the Office of Personnel Management and other agencies used by a large swath of the public.
18F also operates as a digital consultancy to help agencies share, build or buy software. One of its hallmark projects was the overhaul of the national health-care exchange site HealthCare.gov, launched in 2013 as a key feature of the Affordable Care Act. The site experienced a crash following its debut, prompting the Obama administration to reach out to tech experts in Silicon Valley for guidance and leadership — leading to the formation of 18F.
In its coverage, CBS News said 18F had been “eliminated,” citing an internal email from TTS Director Thomas Shedd indicating the team had been identified as “non-critical.”
It’s not clear how the mission and work of 18F will move forward, following the dismissal of dozens of staffers. In addition to the 70 workers fired over the weekend, about two dozen other probationary employees were terminated in February, according to Politico. However, its staff count may be larger; early coverage of the unit indicated its roster had risen to around 200 by the fall of 2016.
