Sahil Lavingia, the former DOGE operative who got fired from Veterans Affairs for speaking to reporters, just landed at the IRS with plans to stay a decade. The Gumroad CEO turned government reformer is now building online tax tools after Treasury's CIO personally recruited him following his public criticism of Musk's efficiency initiative.
The most surprising career move in government tech just happened quietly last month. Sahil Lavingia, the entrepreneur who became the face of DOGE's early dysfunction, is back in federal service - this time at the Internal Revenue Service.
Lavingia's return comes six months after he was fired from Veterans Affairs for going public about the chaos inside Elon Musk's government efficiency initiative. Speaking at WIRED's Big Interview event this week, the Gumroad founder revealed he joined the IRS in November as a career employee focused on "online accounts."
The recruitment happened through an unexpected channel. Sam Corcos, a fellow DOGE operative who became Treasury's chief information officer, reached out after reading Lavingia's detailed breakdown of his government experience. "He offered to put me in touch with people who could help me find a role where I could put my talents to use as a federal worker," Lavingia explained to the audience.
It's a remarkable turnaround for someone who became DOGE's most vocal internal critic. During his five months at VA, Lavingia built AI tools to analyze contract data and pushed for digital transformation of paper-heavy processes. But he grew increasingly frustrated with what he saw as DOGE's lack of organization and transparency.
"Steve Davis appeared to be the only person communicating across DOGE teams at various agencies," Lavingia told WIRED earlier this year, referring to Musk's right-hand man and Boring Company CEO. His public criticism led to his termination in May after he spoke to reporters about DOGE's internal dysfunction.
But Lavingia's experience also shifted his perspective on government efficiency. "The government is pretty efficient," he said at the event. "Could move faster." He found that many problems weren't due to lack of technical expertise but complicated legal and policy requirements - a stark contrast to DOGE's narrative about incompetent federal workers.
Now he's putting that insight to work at the IRS, where taxpayer-facing technology has lagged for decades. When Lavingia asked the Big Interview audience whether the IRS should have a mobile app, attendees enthusiastically agreed. It's exactly the kind of modernization project that could benefit from his startup background.
Lavingia isn't the only DOGE veteran staying in government. While the strike force approach of DOGE's early months has largely ended, many technologists recruited during that period have transitioned to full-time federal roles across agencies.
The move reflects a broader shift in how tech talent views government service. Unlike his 2015 application to the US Digital Service that went nowhere, Lavingia now has direct experience with federal bureaucracy's realities. He understands both the potential for technology to improve services and the constraints that make change difficult.
"I anticipate working for the government for the next 10 years," Lavingia said, outlining plans to focus on modernizing software for taxpayers. If it doesn't work out, he admitted with characteristic honesty, "perhaps I'll look back and say 'I should have made a lot more money doing AI stuff.'"
The comment reveals the opportunity cost many technologists face when choosing public service over Silicon Valley salaries. But it also suggests Lavingia sees meaningful work ahead at an agency that touches every American's life.
His journey from DOGE whistleblower to IRS career employee offers a fascinating case study in how government reform actually happens - not through top-down efficiency drives, but through individuals who understand both technology and bureaucracy working within the system to improve it incrementally.
Lavingia's path from fired DOGE critic to IRS career employee shows how government tech reform might actually work - through experienced practitioners who understand both Silicon Valley innovation and federal constraints. His 10-year commitment suggests we're seeing the emergence of a new generation of technologists willing to work within the system rather than trying to disrupt it from outside. Whether his modernization efforts at the IRS prove more successful than DOGE's efficiency push will be a key test of this approach.
