General Services Administration
Once a relatively obscure agency that provided shared services and procurement services for the government, GSA became an integral part of DOGE’s early-phase plans for taking over parts of the federal bureaucracy precisely for those reasons. From the very first day of the Trump presidency, DOGE established a sizable team at GSA. Some of these were focused on drastic cost-reduction efforts like cancelling government leases or unilaterally dropping the purchasing limit of government purchase cards to curtail micro-purchases by government staff. GSA was also the base for many of DOGE’s wrecking crews that were detailed to other agencies, with agency leadership quickly creating a walled-off enclave protected by security guards exclusively for the use of DOGE staff with “A-level access.”
Positions
| Position | Date | Person |
|---|---|---|
|
GSA
c.1/20-5/23
|
[as OPM-04] appointed Senior Advisor, Immediate Office of the Administrator (SGE, NTE 2026-01-19, EF-00, excepted, volunteer) «Start date and agency inferred from later reporting» Wired | |
|
GSA
1/20
|
appointed ($167,000) «salary reported by Wired» Wired | |
|
GSA
1/20
|
appointed (volunteer) Wired | |
|
GSA
1/20-7/21
|
appointed Acting Administrator (supervisory) NextGov | |
|
GSA
1/20
|
appointed (volunteer) «verified as detailed from GSA to HHS on 1/21, so assuming onboarded on 1/20» | |
|
GSA
1/20-5/29
Left DOGE |
appointed (supervisory) Wired | |
|
GSA
1/24
|
appointed Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner (supervisory) | |
|
GSA
1/24
|
appointed Deputy FAS Commissioner / Administrator, Technology Transformation Service (supervisory) Fed News Network | |
|
GSA
2/XX
|
appointed «Assuming GSA start because linked there by ProPublica and at time, people were detailed from there» | |
|
GSA
2/XX
|
appointed «Assuming early Feb start from appear at DOL, being in Riley Sennott’s calendar» | |
|
GSA
2/XX
|
appointed «assuming hired at GSA» | |
|
GSA
2/03
|
appointed ($120,500) Wired | |
|
GSA
2/12
|
appointed «start inferred from his father’s article about his role» CJR | |
|
GSA
2/XX
|
appointed Wired | |
|
GSA
c.2/18
|
appointed (GS-15/10, $195,200) Wired | |
|
GSA
c.2/18
|
appointed Senior Advisor ProPublica | |
|
GSA
3/XX
|
appointed «No idea on GSA start but before 3/13» | |
|
GSA
3/XX
|
appointed «he was detailed to USPS from GSA, so assuming appointed at GSA but info unknown» | |
|
GSA
3/03
|
appointed Senior Advisor (excepted) ProPublica | |
|
GSA
3/XX
|
appointed «linked to GSA by NYT, start date guessed» | |
|
GSA
4/09
|
appointed NPR | |
|
GSA
4/10
|
converted to permanent position Senior Advisor (GS-14, $142,488 - $185,234) «Salary range for GS-14 in DC» Wired | |
|
GSA
4/15
|
appointed NPR | |
|
GSA
4/21
|
appointed NPR | |
|
GSA
c.4/24
|
appointed Data Engineer Wired | |
|
GSA
c.4/24
|
appointed Wired | |
|
GSA
5/XX
|
appointed «Named in ProPublica roundup, start date guessed» ProPublica | |
|
GSA
5/XX-6/07
Left DOGE |
appointed «Start date guessed» Poltico | |
|
GSA
5/XX
|
appointed «Date guessed based on reporting from ProPublica and 404 Media on ai.gov» ProPublica | |
|
GSA
5/XX
|
appointed «Date guessed based on reporting from ProPublica and 404 Media on ai.gov» ProPublica | |
|
GSA
5/31
|
converted to permanent position Senior Advisor (GS-15, $167,603 - $195,200) «Salary range for GS-15 in DC» Wired | |
|
GSA
5/31-6/23
resigned |
converted to permanent position Senior Advisor (GS-15, $167,603 - $195,200) «Salary range for GS-15 in DC» Wired | |
|
GSA
6/XX
|
unknown «Not many details besides start date “in June.” Because he is a former IT consultant, I’m not sure if he has been hired or is consulting.» Wired | |
|
GSA
7/21
|
demoted to Deputy Administrator (supervisory) «Had been in the Deputy Administrator role since 1/20 but serving as Acting Administrator» Politico | |
| No Start Date Known | ||
| OPM GSA | Gavin Kliger | |
Events
| Agency | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
|
1/20
|
Onboard:
Stephen Ehikian is sworn in as the Acting Administrator of the GSA. This move allows the administration to avoid a confirmation process for the role.
|
|
|
1/20
|
||
|
1/24
|
Onboard:
Thomas Shedd is named as the new head of the Technology Transformation Service (TTS), the parent organization of 18F as well as shared services like Login.gov. He reports to Josh Gruenbaum, who is also appointed on this day as the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) Commissioner.
|
|
|
1/29
|
Report:
A team of high-ranking GSA employees meets with Nicole Hollander to discuss building special “resting rooms” for DOGE and other A-suite staff.
|
|
|
1/29
|
||
|
1/30
|
Interagency:
Elon Musk reportedly visits GSA to meet with staff, several of whom are identified from their appearances in the internal directory for the agency. These include Steve Davis, Nicole Hollander, Thomas Shedd, Stephen Ehikian and Luke Farritor.
|
|
|
1/31
|
||
| February 2025 | ||
|
2/10
|
Disruption:
Unnamed DOGE staff using non-governmental Google accounts conduct dozens of “touch-base” interviews with dozens of US Digital Corps fellows, under the direction of Thomas Shedd.
|
|
|
2/12
|
||
|
2/12
|
Disruption:
Dozens of probationary workers within the Technology Transformation Service (TTS) are fired, with many of the cuts focused on the US Digital Corps and Presidential Innovation Fellows programs
|
|
|
2/18
|
Disruption:
A GSA employee reportedly resigned rather than give unrestricted admin access for the SMS emergency notification service Notify.gov to Thomas Shedd.
|
|
|
c.2/18
|
Sighting:
ProPublica reports that Frank Schuler has appeared in the GSA directory.
(fuzz: Exact date is not provided in the article)
|
|
|
c.2/18
|
Sighting:
Frank Schuler is introduced on a video call meeting at the GSA by Nate Cavanaugh.
(fuzz: Exact date is not provided in the article)
|
|
|
2/19
|
Disruption:
Thomas Shedd has allegedly requested admin access to 19 different systems within TTS at GSA
|
|
|
2/21
|
Interagency:
Ethan Shaotran and Nate Cavanaugh return to the IAF with Jacob Altik, who presented himself as representing the EOP. Altik confirms that DOGE plans to reduce IAF to what he considers the statutory minimum (a board and president, a location in DC, some grants) and DOGE will be conducting a Reduction in Force of all employees and terminating all grants. The demand approval from the board and threaten the board will be fired otherwise.
|
|
|
2/25
|
||
|
2/26
|
Disruption:
Without issuaing any warning, GSA puts a $1 spending limit on all government purchase cards following an executive order by Trump. This predictably creates a large amount of chaos by destroying the ability of agencies to do micro-purchases allowed by law.
|
|
|
c.2/26
|
Interagency:
During a call of human capital officers led by OPM, a representative for the GSA announces they are working on a “new federal daily check-in tool.” A test email was sent out on the same day. They announce plans to debut the tool by the first week in March.
(fuzz: Date is just given as “Late February”)
|
|
| March 2025 | ||
|
3/01
|
Disruption:
TTS administrator Thomas Shedd eliminates 90 members of 18F with a 1am firing email and locks them out of their machines
|
|
|
3/01
|
Disruption:
Hours after the staff is hit with the RIF email, the DNS entry for 18F.gsa.gov is removed
|
|
|
3/04
|
Directory:
Wired reports that some DOGE staff (Kyle Schutt, Nate Cavanaugh) are being paid as full-time GSA employees, but other staff are listed as volunteers for that agency.
|
|
|
3/06
|
Disruption:
TTS Commissioner Thomas Shedd says in a statement that he expects the Technology Transformation Service will be 50% smaller within weeks.
|
|
|
3/07
|
||
|
3/13
|
||
|
3/18
|
Interagency:
A senior policy strategist at the White House relays a “Stephen request” (meaning Stephen Miller) that “POTUS wants to see more action against universities.” Included in the initial coordination is GSA Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum. He becomes involved with figuring out grants from multiple agencies to cut for both University of Pennsylvania and San Jose State University, because they had allowed trans athletes to participate in sports. This is very much not his area of responsibility at the GSA, but he is on the Task Force to Combat Antisemitism which stripped funding from Columbia Univesity.
|
|
|
3/19
|
||
|
3/19
|
Interagency:
During a discussion on how to strip grants from the University of Pennsylvania and San Jose State, GSA FAS Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum sends an email to coordinate grant freezes from DOD, DHS and the EPA. He includes DOGE staffers Kyle Schutt, Adam Hoffman and Kathryn Armstrong Loving as the recipients of these requests.
|
|
|
3/20
|
Report:
Stephen Ehikian claims during an all-hands meeting that there is nobody from DOGE working at the agency. This is met with widespread ridicule by staff who know about the secured DOGE floor.
|
|
|
3/20
|
Directory:
Wired Magazine list DOGE staff stationed within GSA, all of whom were listed on GSA payroll on March 20, the same day Stephen Ehikian claimed there were no DOGE staff in the agency.
|
|
|
3/21
|
||
|
3/25
|
Interagency:
Nate Cavanaugh contacts the administrator of the GSA to propose transferring the USIP building to them, arguing that USIP won’t need a building because the statute doesn’t mandate it should have one or the staffing to fill it.
|
|
|
3/25
|
Interagency:
Kathryn Armstrong Loving and Erica Jehling continue to work directly with Josh Gruenbaum from the GSA on more grants to cancel at the EPA.
|
|
| April 2025 | ||
|
4/03
|
Interagency:
Tarak Makecha, a DOGE representative at DOJ is forwarded a list at 6pm of DOJ contracts to terminate for the Acacia Center, a nonprofit in DOGE’s crosshairs that day and a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the DOJ. He coordinates with Josh Gruenbaum at the GSA, who is leading a multi-agency effort to eliminate grants.
|
|
|
4/08
|
||
|
4/10
|
Report:
Ethan Shaotran is converted to a regular position at the GSA at the GS-14 level, which would mean an annual salary of $142,488 - $185,234 in Washington, DC. This is a relatively senior position for any government worker that would not normally be granted to someone with his limited work experience.
|
|
|
4/21
|
Official:
OMB issues a new memo mandating that agencies must collect daily occupancy data on all workers by May 4th. To support this effort, GSA unveils a website outlining methods to track federal workers, including mandatory daily surveys, monitoring badge usage or even video surveillance.
|
|
|
4/29
|
Interagency:
Nate Cavanaugh sends an email to the two remaining members of the CPB board requesting a meeting. He describes a DOGE team at GSA and cc’s several other members of DOGE
|
|
|
4/30
|
Interagency:
As part of a DOGE-driven effort to find ways to punish Harvard by pulling its grants from the federal govenment, Josh Gruenbaum emails Alexander Simonpour to ask if there are grants that can be revoked by NASA. The next day, Simonpour relayed the request to other NASA staffers and then followed up on May 8th stating that the White House had imposed a 5pm deadline for the information.
|
|
| May 2025 | ||
|
5/08
|
||
|
5/08
|
Interagency:
Jeremy Lichtman emails USDA officials to inform them that GSA (likely Josh Gruenbaum) had directed them to review several agency grants for termination. These terminations were reportedly “awaiting final greenlight from the White House.”
|
|
|
5/12
|
Disruption:
In a retaliation against the university coordinated by GSA, grants for Harvard University from DOD, HUD, the Department of Energy and the Department of Education are all terminated. There were 200 grants from DOD alone. The stated reasons varied but included that they no longer effectuated the administration’s priorities or directly accusing Harvard of fostering antisemitism on campus.
|
|
|
5/13
|
||
|
5/23
|
Disruption:
Ethan Shaotran sends a Survey of Surveys email to federal agencies asking them to report information on data-collection surveys. This is redundant to the existing survey oversight already conducted by OMB, and there are concerns about what the data will be used for.
|
|
|
5/28
|
||
|
5/29
|
Offboard:
Steve Davis and Nicole Hollander reportedly resign their positions and depart from the GSA and government service in the wake of Elon Musk leaving DOGE
|
|
|
5/31
|
Report:
Edward Coristine and Luke Farritor’s roles are both converted into regular positions at the GSA at the GS-15 level, which would mean an annual salary of $167,603 - $195,200 in Washington, DC. This is the maximum level possible for a general government worker, and it often takes years or decades to reach. It would not normally be granted to staff with such limited work experience.
|
|
| June 2025 | ||
|
6/05
|
||
|
c.6/05
|
Disruption:
Concerned by people questioning his continued authority, Steve Davis reportedly taps Anthony Armstrong, Josh Gruenbaum and Stephen Ehikian to assess the loyalty of DOGE staffers and assert they are the leadership of DOGE now, acting under the authority of JD Vance and Susie Wiles in the White House. This is a bluff, and staffers in the White House counter that their authority is only within GSA itself.
|
|
|
6/06
|
Report:
Wired reports that Thomas Shedd is in need of in-house developers and is looking to revamp and restart the Presidential Innovation Fellows program months after it was eliminated due to the hiring freeze and mass layoffs initiated by Thomas Shedd.
|
|
|
6/23
|
Offboard:
Less than a month after he was officially hired at GSA, Edward Coristine reportedly resigns his position and is removed from the building directory.
|
|
|
6/25
|
Disruption:
In a surprise move, the Republican governor of Virginia, the head of public buildings service at GSA and the Commissioner for HUD announce that they will be kicking out the National Science Foundation (NSF) from its Virginia headquarters and moving HUD to that location. There are no details provided on where NSF is expected to relocate to.
|
|
| July 2025 | ||
|
7/07
|
Action:
Thomas Shedd announces that after a review of 7200 websites in the federal government, GSA is recommending that 332 of those should be eliminated. These cuts are not evenly distributed (the SBA will eliminate half of its websites). This initiative dates back to 2023 OMB guidance for the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act, so this is not a DOGE-created project, but some of the websites and pages are for programs targeted by DOGE.
|
|
|
7/10
|
Report:
In a sign of DOGE’s apparent waning influence at the agency, the guard who used to be posted outside of the sixth-floor A suite is gone as well as the signs in the elevator listing that only authorized access is allowed for that floor.
|
|
|
7/18
|
Report:
In an interview with the Financial Times about his reported squeeze of government contractors, Josh Gruenbaum denies he has made unreasonable demands of many companies while going easy on Trump allies during his reviews of all government contracts overseen by the Federal Acquisition Service at GSA.
|
|
|
7/21
|
Offboard:
In a move that is seen as reprisal for GSA leadership’s support of Steve Davis attempt to continue running DOGE after he left, the Trump White House names Mike Rigas as the new acting administrator of GSA. This demotes Stephen Ehikian to his role as Deputy Administrator of GSA only.
|
|
|
7/21
|
Directory:
Multiple DOGE staff are listed in the invite for a new meeting for political appointees at the agency which will be held once every two weeks.
(fuzz: Jeremy Lewin is a Deputy Undersecretary at State, but still a GSA employee?)
|