After rocky history, GSA shuts down 18F office

On the cusp of its 11th anniversary, the 18F organization at the General Services Administration is no more.

Thomas Shedd, the commissioner of Federal Acquisition Service at GSA, said in an email to staff last night that the administration determined 18F to be non-essential and therefore the agency is eliminating it.

“In alignment with the President’s Workforce Optimization Initiative executive order and the recent memo from GSA per the Trump administration requiring cutting ‘non-essential consulting’ functions, the 18F office has been identified as part of this phase of GSA’s reduction in force as non-critical,” Shedd wrote in the email obtained by Federal News Network. “This decision was made with explicit direction from the top levels of leadership within both the administration and GSA.”

Shedd didn’t say how many people would be affected by this RIF.

A GSA spokesman didn’t say how many people are affected.

“GSA is committed to fully supporting impacted employees as they transition from federal service,” the spokesman said in an email. “GSA will continue to support the Administration’s drive to embrace best in class technologies to accelerate digital transformation and modernize IT infrastructure. This includes understanding what solutions are the most effective and necessary to meet the needs of our customer agencies and the American taxpayer.”

But a GSA employee familiar with the situation says about 85 people were affected by the decision to shut down 18F.

GSA decision to shut down 18F comes as it is pressing agencies to cut “non-essential consulting” contracts, which it defined as those that “merely generates a report, research, coaching or an artifact.” It’s clear 18F did more than than what GSA defines as “non-essential.”

The final decision to shut down 18F isn’t a total surprise. About a month ago, Elon Musk, the special advisor to the President, posted on “X” that the organization had been “deleted.”

GSA’s 18F mission was to work primarily with agencies to help them buy, build and integrate digital services that improve government operations and enhance services.

Shedd said in the email that while this decision to cut 18F is the only one happening at this time, more changes will be coming in the future.

“Departures are not easy, and this difficult news will have a deep impact on everyone here. I understand this news may bring uncertainty and concern, and I will be working with Technology Transformation Service leadership and division directors to adjust accordingly,” he wrote. “I would like to thank these individuals for their service up to this point and express my appreciation for their work. Their legacy will live on through the technical achievements they accomplished at our partner agencies.”

GSA told its office and program leaders in early February to reduce total spending across all programs and personnel by 50%. GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service told staff in a town hall meeting on Jan. 31 that senior leadership is developing a plan to cut GSA’s spending by 50%. Potential areas for cuts include personnel, payroll and contracts.

Supporters lament the end of 18F

Reaction to GSA’s decision has been strong on LinkedIN with former and recently fired staff members bemoaning the decision.

“18F was the best place I ever worked. I’ve never seen such a broad and deep assemblage of talent, and every single one of them was absolutely driven to make government work better. For 10 years they were at the forefront of everything government got right. They were there, driving efficiency, saving taxpayer dollars and just flat making things work better across government. They were, quite simply, the best I’ve ever seen,” Carter Baxter, a digital service fellow at the Agriculture Department who also worked at 18F for almost four years from 2017 to 2021, wrote on LinkedIn. “Last night 18F was unceremoniously shuttered (via a midnight Friday email) with no explanation — no rationale at all. This isn’t how you make government efficient, it’s how you break it. The federal government was incredibly lucky to have that talent. They’ll never be able to attract it again. 18F, you will be greatly missed.”

Ron Bronson, the former head of design at 18F, worked there for seven years. Bronson wrote on LinkedIn that, “My favorite thing about the assemblage of talent was how wide-ranging it was. Colleagues across the entirety of the US, small towns, farms, big cities and island states and commonwealths. We truly spanned America, which makes for better products and user experiences. I can especially vouch for our cadre of designers and design managers who I had the honor of leading for the last four years. To a person, they are each stellar, craft-focused, detail oriented people who truly put users (and the public) first. I look forward to recommending and referring them! Every day was an honor and I’m grateful I had over seven years doing so. While I’m looking forward to my own next professional chapter, I’m always going to have a piece of this journey with me.”

Last March, 18F celebrated its 10th anniversary. GSA said at the time that 18F had completed 455 projects for 34 agencies as well as the Executive Office of the President, the Library of Congress and the House of Representatives.

18F’s checkered history

The Obama administration launched the organization in March 2014 with a group of White House Presidential Innovation Fellows.

18F had a checkered history as it tried to change the technology buying culture of the government.
Several inspector general audits found in the early years of 18F, it failed to follow federal regulations and GSA’s own procedures. Additionally, 18F was costing GSA more money than it brought in from fees from agencies.

Then in 2023, GSA’s IG found 18F lied to agencies about the security of the Login.gov platform as it never met the technical requirements for identity proofing and authentication of NIST Special Publication 800-63-3 for Identity Assurance Level 2 (IAL2).

Each time 18F received a critical audit, GSA officials tried to fix the organization and over the last four or so years, it has regained the some of the trust and confidence of agency customers.

For example, 18F partnered with the IRS to build the Direct File platform. It is now available in 25 states, more than doubling the 12 states where the IRS-run online filing system was an option for taxpayers in 2024.

Additionally, 18F built technology guides, best practices and trained federal employees on how to use modern IT, including the move to DevSecOps and agile development.

GSA highlighted some of 18F’s accomplishments at its 10th anniversary:

• Modernizing the Forest Service’s online permit and application process.
• Streamlining the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division’s civil rights violation complaint submission process.
• Supporting a new case management system for the tax court which makes it easier for many taxpayers to submit online petitions.
• Creating a De-risking Guide to help both federal and state agencies avoid pitfalls in delivering successful custom technology projects.

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