SECRET SERVICE

How unnamed federal workers are defending the work of government, one meme at a time

- Pema Levy

RACHEL, AS SHE puts it, is the kind of person who rushes in to help. That’s why she used to work at USAID, and why, just 10 days into President Donald Trump's second administration, she rented a room in a Washington bar for her former colleagues to gather. That evening, Rachel recalls, they shared drinks and “crazy stories” of wandering into “deserted office buildings with no art on the walls, with empty picture frames, trying to figure out what to do.”

Rachel felt compelled to do something to stop Elon Musk’s DOGE from dismantling the agency. That night, she gathered photos like the ones that had once adorned USAID’S walls, showcasing its lifesaving accomplishments, and sent them to others to post online. When Rachel forwarded them to another USAID alum, Veronica, she responded with some ideas for next steps, and to say she “would love to help in whatever way I can.”

The two had crossed paths at USAID but now were both busy moms who might struggle to find time to shower, much less save a federal agency. Still, they grabbed the @FriendsofUSAID Instagram handle and started posting: scripts for voters to call their representatives, data showing how USAID boosted individual state economies, and “very scary” ways Americans are endangered by cuts to foreign aid.

A week into their new project, rumors began to circulate that Musk would drop $40 million on a Super Bowl ad smearing USAID. Rachel and Veronica sent a simple question across the many Signal channels they were using to communicate with the USAID community: What would you have done with that money at USAID? A Musk ad never aired, but they received hundreds of responses and on game day released their own video, racking up more than 1 million views. Their account jumped to 10,000 followers and got a mention in the New York Times.