The former DOGE engineer has now returned to government

At the Department of Veterans Affairs, Lavinia tried using an AI tool to write code for the agency’s systems and suggested the agency move away from paper forms altogether. He built a tool for Munch data. Convert agency contracts to determine which ones can be cut.

He was fired from his position at the Department of Veterans Affairs in May after he resigned Talk to a reporter About his work at DOGE. Lavingia said Wired at the time He truly believed in the role of technology in trying to improve government services, but quickly became disillusioned with DOGE’s lack of organization and transparency, noting that Steve Davis, Musk’s right-hand man and CEO of The Boring Company, seemed to be the only person communicating across DOGE teams at various agencies.

Through his work in Virginia, Lavingia discovered that… Doug’s novel This belief is largely wrong, with many of the problems not being due to a lack of technical expertise, but complex legal and political requirements.

“The government is very efficient,” he added. “It could move faster.”

While the striking power that characterized DOGE’s early months has largely subsided, many DOGE operatives remain in government, often with Full-time positions within federal agencies.

Lavingia said he expects to work in government for the next 10 years, and that his work will focus on modernizing software for taxpayers. If it doesn’t work out, he said, he might look back and say, “I should have made a lot more money doing AI stuff.”