Lindsay
@not-young.bsky.social
Director 18F, formerly Sunlight Foundation
Reposted by Lindsay
ICYMI: This weekend, we published the @wired.com guide to digital opsec for teens (tho it applies to pretty much everyone!) We hope you and the kids in your life will read it and stay safe out there. No paywall! @lhn.bsky.social and JP Aumasson report: www.wired.com/story/digita...
The WIRED Guide to Digital Opsec for Teens
Practicing good “operations security” is essential to staying safe online. Here's a complete guide for teenagers (and anyone else) who wants to button up their digital lives.
www.wired.com
December 1, 2025 at 3:31 PM
ICYMI: This weekend, we published the @wired.com guide to digital opsec for teens (tho it applies to pretty much everyone!) We hope you and the kids in your life will read it and stay safe out there. No paywall! @lhn.bsky.social and JP Aumasson report: www.wired.com/story/digita...
Reposted by Lindsay
The "DOGE is gone" articles are clickbait but this one gets it closer to the truth: DOGE is not gone, it just claims to have "no centralized leadership" anymore -- in other words, its leadership is hiding in an attempt to avoid blame.
DOGE no longer has ‘centralized leadership’ under White House tech team, personnel head says
The team that was altered to house DOGE — formerly the U.S. Digital Service — is also still doing its own technology work across agencies.
www.nextgov.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:09 AM
The "DOGE is gone" articles are clickbait but this one gets it closer to the truth: DOGE is not gone, it just claims to have "no centralized leadership" anymore -- in other words, its leadership is hiding in an attempt to avoid blame.
Thank you for putting in your skill and attention into making digital experiences better for the whole public. I also hold out hope for a future where the government wants to build quality services.
Someday it’ll be time to build again and I’m enough of a glutton for punishment to come back and help when that time comes. Unfortunately, the great things federal government tech built in the last decade+ are just going to burn or at least decay until then. 9/
November 18, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Thank you for putting in your skill and attention into making digital experiences better for the whole public. I also hold out hope for a future where the government wants to build quality services.
Reposted by Lindsay
The administration has pulled the plug on IRS Direct File, a tool that helped eligible taxpayers file for free. This decision comes despite Direct File’s immense popularity with its users.
Direct File won’t happen in 2026, IRS tells states
The free service that allowed taxpayers to file online directly with the IRS was used by hundreds of thousands of taxpayers in 2024 and 2025, who gave it high marks — although tax prep companies and R...
www.nextgov.com
November 6, 2025 at 6:04 PM
The administration has pulled the plug on IRS Direct File, a tool that helped eligible taxpayers file for free. This decision comes despite Direct File’s immense popularity with its users.
Reposted by Lindsay
Our friends at @usdigitalresponse.org are hosting the 2025 Digital Service Champions Awards to recognize folks doing great work in #civictech. Nominations close this Friday, October 10. ⏳
Government awards: usdr.link/champions-government
Individual awards: usdr.link/champions-individual
Government awards: usdr.link/champions-government
Individual awards: usdr.link/champions-individual
October 8, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Our friends at @usdigitalresponse.org are hosting the 2025 Digital Service Champions Awards to recognize folks doing great work in #civictech. Nominations close this Friday, October 10. ⏳
Government awards: usdr.link/champions-government
Individual awards: usdr.link/champions-individual
Government awards: usdr.link/champions-government
Individual awards: usdr.link/champions-individual
Reposted by Lindsay
"The inspector general’s office for the General Services Administration ... said it will look at the impact of several DOGE-backed projects at GSA—including its mass termination of government leases and its decision to shutter its tech office 18F."
Agency watchdog will see if DOGE-led projects improved efficiency
DOGE officials no longer take up residence in GSA’s headquarters. But its legacy on government operations will be a priority for its IG office in FY 2026.
federalnewsnetwork.com
September 29, 2025 at 7:26 PM
"The inspector general’s office for the General Services Administration ... said it will look at the impact of several DOGE-backed projects at GSA—including its mass termination of government leases and its decision to shutter its tech office 18F."
Reposted by Lindsay
New legislative branch data map courtesy of the Congressional Data Task Force & Congressional Data Coalition: github.com/LibraryOfCon... kudos Steve Dwyer + @americalabs.org
#opengov #opendata
#opengov #opendata
September 17, 2025 at 5:54 PM
New legislative branch data map courtesy of the Congressional Data Task Force & Congressional Data Coalition: github.com/LibraryOfCon... kudos Steve Dwyer + @americalabs.org
#opengov #opendata
#opengov #opendata
Reposted by Lindsay
Shot: "The last [18F] report urged the courts to 'start small.'"
Chaser: "In mid-2022, the administrative office awarded a five-year, $298 million contract to General Dynamics Information Technology."
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/u...
Chaser: "In mid-2022, the administrative office awarded a five-year, $298 million contract to General Dynamics Information Technology."
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/u...
Federal Courts Slow to Fix Vulnerable System After Repeated Hacking
www.nytimes.com
September 8, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Shot: "The last [18F] report urged the courts to 'start small.'"
Chaser: "In mid-2022, the administrative office awarded a five-year, $298 million contract to General Dynamics Information Technology."
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/u...
Chaser: "In mid-2022, the administrative office awarded a five-year, $298 million contract to General Dynamics Information Technology."
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/u...
Reposted by Lindsay
The resignation letter that the government does not want you to see
August 30, 2025 at 12:21 AM
The resignation letter that the government does not want you to see
Reposted by Lindsay
Reposted by Lindsay
"Young stressed that those working on digital tools within the federal government 'have a responsibility to the security and privacy of the public.'" @not-young.bsky.social
How Healthcare.gov’s botched rollout led to a digital services revolution in government
The botched rollout of a federal website 12 years ago became a turning point for digital services across government.
federalnewsnetwork.com
July 31, 2025 at 8:15 PM
"Young stressed that those working on digital tools within the federal government 'have a responsibility to the security and privacy of the public.'" @not-young.bsky.social
Reposted by Lindsay
This week, I’m honoring the State Dept foreign and civil servants whose service was cut short. No one can take away their impact.. in every flag they stood beside, the rooms where diplomacy took shape, and the global ties they built. We will feel this loss for years. Images from my last visit.
July 12, 2025 at 8:07 PM
This week, I’m honoring the State Dept foreign and civil servants whose service was cut short. No one can take away their impact.. in every flag they stood beside, the rooms where diplomacy took shape, and the global ties they built. We will feel this loss for years. Images from my last visit.
Reposted by Lindsay
The Ku Klux Klan Acts (passed in 1870 & 1871 to protect 14th amend rights) were particularly focused on masked gunmen who violated the civil rights of Black people. We should remember this history when masked law enforcement ofcrs are deployed in our communities.
open.substack.com/pub/sherrily...
open.substack.com/pub/sherrily...
June 25, 2025 at 12:55 AM
The Ku Klux Klan Acts (passed in 1870 & 1871 to protect 14th amend rights) were particularly focused on masked gunmen who violated the civil rights of Black people. We should remember this history when masked law enforcement ofcrs are deployed in our communities.
open.substack.com/pub/sherrily...
open.substack.com/pub/sherrily...
Reposted by Lindsay
A top House Democrat is asking Microsoft for information about a DOGE staffer's GitHub account connected to whistleblower allegations of sensitive data leaving the National Labor Relations Board.
Top House Democrat ask Microsoft about DOGE code allegedly tied to NLRB data removal
A top House Democrat is asking Microsoft for information about a DOGE staffer's GitHub account connected to whistleblower allegations of sensitive data leaving the National Labor Relations Board.
n.pr
June 17, 2025 at 12:36 AM
A top House Democrat is asking Microsoft for information about a DOGE staffer's GitHub account connected to whistleblower allegations of sensitive data leaving the National Labor Relations Board.
Reposted by Lindsay
“Systems break and it takes days to fix them because no one is left who knows how,” they said. It’s making modernization projects take longer because of time dedicated to “putting out fires” where “the guy who knows how to fix it is gone.”
www.nextgov.com/modernizatio...
www.nextgov.com/modernizatio...
Workforce cuts could complicate IRS goal to modernize in the next two years
Agency leaders say they want to complete the “vast majority” of its modernization efforts within the next couple of years.
www.nextgov.com
June 13, 2025 at 12:44 PM
“Systems break and it takes days to fix them because no one is left who knows how,” they said. It’s making modernization projects take longer because of time dedicated to “putting out fires” where “the guy who knows how to fix it is gone.”
www.nextgov.com/modernizatio...
www.nextgov.com/modernizatio...
Reposted by Lindsay
When it comes to handling sensitive systems and data, we believe government officials should follow best practice and the law—and we said so. (Text in🧵)
June 11, 2025 at 8:26 PM
When it comes to handling sensitive systems and data, we believe government officials should follow best practice and the law—and we said so. (Text in🧵)
I talked to Fedscoop about how 18F is fighting back against DOGE’s dangerously naive approach to efficiency and security.
fedscoop.com/radio/lindsa...
fedscoop.com/radio/lindsa...
The former leader of 18F speaks out on the digital services team’s ‘deletion’
Lindsay Young, executive director of 18F when it was shuttered, joins the podcast to talk about the appeal she and other 18F members filed with the Merit Systems Protection Board.
fedscoop.com
June 12, 2025 at 7:17 PM
I talked to Fedscoop about how 18F is fighting back against DOGE’s dangerously naive approach to efficiency and security.
fedscoop.com/radio/lindsa...
fedscoop.com/radio/lindsa...
Reposted by Lindsay
My invitation (not really optional!) to be questioned by DOGE came in without a name. During the interrogation, I was scared to share too much, and scared to share too little.
It turns out I shouldn't have worried about how to protect our work. It was impossible.
It turns out I shouldn't have worried about how to protect our work. It was impossible.
"Most DOGE interviewers would not provide the 18F staff with their full names and some invitations to the DOGE meetings came from non-government email addresses with no information identifying the person sending the invitation."
June 11, 2025 at 1:33 AM
My invitation (not really optional!) to be questioned by DOGE came in without a name. During the interrogation, I was scared to share too much, and scared to share too little.
It turns out I shouldn't have worried about how to protect our work. It was impossible.
It turns out I shouldn't have worried about how to protect our work. It was impossible.
Reposted by Lindsay
Our appeal to the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board seeks to hold the administration accountable for its actions and defend the rule of law.
Fired federal tech staffers file retaliation claim to a panel whose chairwoman Trump also fired
A group of roughly 80 fired federal employees are appealing their terminations to an administrative body in charge of protecting the rights of federal employees from partisan political practices.
apnews.com
May 29, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Our appeal to the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board seeks to hold the administration accountable for its actions and defend the rule of law.
Reposted by Lindsay
"Former 18F director Lindsay Young ... is concerned that Doge’s cuts will have long-lasting effects on government functions. 'In government, it’s just so much easier to tear things down than it is to build things up,' Young said." @not-young.bsky.social
The chaos Elon Musk and Doge are leaving behind in Washington
Though Musk promised modernization and efficiency, what’s left is a trail of uncertainty and reduced functionality
www.theguardian.com
May 30, 2025 at 6:02 PM
"Former 18F director Lindsay Young ... is concerned that Doge’s cuts will have long-lasting effects on government functions. 'In government, it’s just so much easier to tear things down than it is to build things up,' Young said." @not-young.bsky.social
Here’s a picture of the FEC launch cake from “back in the day” - this came up at our #CfASummit session today. Launching the new FEC.gov on my birthday was one of my favorite 18F memories!
May 29, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Here’s a picture of the FEC launch cake from “back in the day” - this came up at our #CfASummit session today. Launching the new FEC.gov on my birthday was one of my favorite 18F memories!
Getting ready for our panel- You can carry on where 18F left off! #CfASummit
May 29, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Getting ready for our panel- You can carry on where 18F left off! #CfASummit
Reposted by Lindsay
We have some news to share with you. 🥄
Today we took legal action to challenge our termination, filing an appeal with the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board. We did this because we believe the elimination of 18F violated safeguards that exist to protect a nonpartisan civil service.
Today we took legal action to challenge our termination, filing an appeal with the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board. We did this because we believe the elimination of 18F violated safeguards that exist to protect a nonpartisan civil service.
18F files legal challenge
A statement about 18F’s appeal filed with the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board.
18f.org
May 28, 2025 at 7:25 PM
We have some news to share with you. 🥄
Today we took legal action to challenge our termination, filing an appeal with the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board. We did this because we believe the elimination of 18F violated safeguards that exist to protect a nonpartisan civil service.
Today we took legal action to challenge our termination, filing an appeal with the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board. We did this because we believe the elimination of 18F violated safeguards that exist to protect a nonpartisan civil service.
If you are going to #CFASummit this week, come to our session Thursday “You can carry on where 18F left off!”
18F wasn’t just a box on an org chart. There were a lot of good people and we had a way of working that led to real results.
summit-widget.codeforamerica.org/agenda/sessi...
18F wasn’t just a box on an org chart. There were a lot of good people and we had a way of working that led to real results.
summit-widget.codeforamerica.org/agenda/sessi...
Code for America Summit 2025
Code for America’s annual Summit brings the entire civic tech ecosystem together to work through our toughest challenges and celebrate the biggest wins in digital government. It’s an in-person immersi...
summit-widget.codeforamerica.org
May 26, 2025 at 4:02 PM
If you are going to #CFASummit this week, come to our session Thursday “You can carry on where 18F left off!”
18F wasn’t just a box on an org chart. There were a lot of good people and we had a way of working that led to real results.
summit-widget.codeforamerica.org/agenda/sessi...
18F wasn’t just a box on an org chart. There were a lot of good people and we had a way of working that led to real results.
summit-widget.codeforamerica.org/agenda/sessi...
Reposted by Lindsay
"[18F's] ideals and practices are things that we can adopt in our work wherever we are—working in the open, admitting when we’re wrong and how we’re doing better, improving stuff iteratively, documenting our lessons, and being willing to share what we’re learning with others." — @ronbronson.com
Leading the Field: Ron Bronson — Code for America
A conversation with a critical service designer and scholar
codeforamerica.org
May 5, 2025 at 8:14 PM
"[18F's] ideals and practices are things that we can adopt in our work wherever we are—working in the open, admitting when we’re wrong and how we’re doing better, improving stuff iteratively, documenting our lessons, and being willing to share what we’re learning with others." — @ronbronson.com