February 2025 — Timeline — Standing Record

Feb 28

GSA eliminated 18F, firing all ~90 employees of the federal technology unit, under DOGE direction

On February 28, 2025, the General Services Administration eliminated 18F, its internal technology consulting unit, firing all approximately 90 employees at the direction of DOGE. GSA Deputy Administrator Thomas Shedd announced the closure in an internal email; 18F's website was taken offline the same day. 18F was a congressionally-funded team of engineers and designers that helped federal agencies modernize digital services and largely paid for itself through interagency billing.

Dismantling agency capacity

Feb 26

AG Bondi directed DOJ Civil Rights Division to dismiss Title VII disparate-impact enforcement suits against police and fire departments

On February 26, 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi directed the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division to dismiss multiple Biden-era lawsuits against police and fire departments accused of discriminatory hiring. The dismissed cases alleged that written aptitude and physical fitness tests produced racially disparate outcomes in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Bondi framed the dismissals as ending "DEI quotas," although the underlying lawsuits involved standard disparate-impact enforcement that federal courts have upheld since 1971.

Feb 25

SSA Acting Commissioner Dudek dissolved the Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity, placing 140 employees on administrative leave

On February 25, 2025, the Social Security Administration dissolved its Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity and placed all 140 of its employees on administrative leave. Acting SSA Commissioner Leland Dudek announced the closure, saying it "advances the President's goal to make all of government more efficient," while claiming statutorily required EEO and reasonable-accommodation functions would be moved elsewhere within the agency. SSA also shuttered its Office of Transformation on the same day.

Feb 25

Trump directed suspension of Covington & Burling security clearances and contract terminations over Jack Smith representation

President Trump issued a presidential memorandum on February 25, 2025, directing the Attorney General and all agency heads to immediately suspend security clearances held by partners, members, and employees of Covington & Burling LLP who had assisted former Special Counsel Jack Smith, and to terminate all federal agency contracts with the firm. The memorandum cited the firm's representation of Smith as "involvement in government weaponization." It was the first in a sequence of retaliatory executive actions targeting major law firms whose attorneys had represented parties adverse to Trump or participated in investigations of him.

Feb 24

Rubio issued State Dept cable directing consulates to deny visas and impose permanent fraud bar on transgender applicants

On February 24, 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a cable titled "Guidance for Visa Adjudicators on Executive Order 14201: Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" directing all U.S. consulates worldwide to require visa applications to reflect applicants' sex at birth. The cable authorized consular officers to deny visas based on "reasonable suspicion" of transgender identity and to apply a permanent lifetime fraud bar under INA § 212(a)(6)(C)(i) to applicants found to have "misrepresented" their sex. While framed around athletes, the cable's Section 6 mandate applied to all visa categories.

Feb 22

OPM demanded weekly work reports from 2 million federal employees under DOGE direction; Musk threatened mass resignation for non-response

On February 22, 2025, the Office of Personnel Management sent a government-wide email to approximately 2 million federal employees directing them to submit five bullets summarizing their weekly work accomplishments and copy their managers, with a deadline of the following Monday at 11:59 PM ET. The email was sent at the direction of Elon Musk, a White House special government employee leading DOGE, who simultaneously posted on X that failure to respond would be taken as a resignation. OPM's own February 5 privacy impact assessment, published in response to ongoing litigation, had explicitly stated seven times that responses to government-wide emails are voluntary.

Feb 19

Trump signed EO 14217, directing elimination of Inter-American Foundation, USADF, USIP, and Presidio Trust

On February 19, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14217, "Commencing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy," directing four congressionally-created entities — the Inter-American Foundation, U.S. African Development Foundation, U.S. Institute of Peace, and Presidio Trust — to eliminate all non-statutory functions and reduce staff to the legal minimum. The EO also abolished the Presidential Management Fellows Program and terminated six federal advisory committees.

Feb 18

Trump signed EO 14215, asserting presidential control over independent regulatory agencies and requiring OMB approval of their regulations

On February 18, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14215, "Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies," asserting presidential authority over independent regulatory agencies including the FEC, FTC, FCC, SEC, CFPB, and NLRB. The order required these agencies to submit significant rules to OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review before publication, and declared that the President's and Attorney General's legal interpretations are binding on all executive branch employees. Congress deliberately shielded these agencies from direct presidential control when it established them.