What Will You Do If DOGE Shows Up?

Every federal employee should be formulating a plan right now of what they are going to do if DOGE shows up in their office, particularly if you know your agency is an impending target of this administration. In the moment, I imagine it will be scary and chaotic, and it will be hard to think rationally.

I'm outside DC and my agency is not a favorite target but my plan is be aware of my chain of command and who actually has the authority to make me leave, refuse to speak to DOGE, including identifying myself, post here, protest outside on the spot if asked to leave and record as much as possible.

Some questions to ask yourself:

What information do I have that needs to be protected that they may destroy? How can I protect it? Particularly applies to scientific research but could also be investigations, information about humanitarian assistance programs, or cultural information that needs to be preserved.

What are my rights? Who has lawful authority over me?

Which of my coworkers will stand up to DOGE? Who will comply quietly, or who will actively cooperate?

What am I willing to risk? Are you willing to risk being arrested to make a statement by not complying? Are you already in immediate danger of losing your job?

How can I rally people to witness this? Do you have a network of people who can call attention to the situation by gathering outside the building? Do you have media contacts? How will you share information?

How can I stay safe? How can you protect yourself, your personal data and the people you care about? How can you protect things like your phone and email accounts.

I don't know if any of this is helpful and I don't think that there's any right answer, other than absolutely do not actively cooperate, but I've just been reflecting on it, and I was hoping to inspire others to do the same.