USDS Co-Founder to Return to White House

According to a Politico report, Haley Van Dyck, one of the co-founders of the U.S. Digital Service (USDS), is returning to the White House. After leaving during President Obama’s final days, she is reportedly continuing to serve in the federal government at the USDS in an unannounced role. The USDS was formed in a response to the healthcare.gov rollout.

While with the Obama administration, Van Dyck helped draft the executive order to make documents open and machine readable by default. This time last year, she attended South by Southwest (SXSW) with U.S. Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith and Chief Digital Officer Jason Goldman to speak about several technology efforts including the TechHire initiative, expanded broadband access and open data. She also helped build the White House Innovation Fellowship.

This news comes just weeks after the state of digital services in the White House is in tumult. Gerrit Lansing, who had been touted as the next chief digital officer, left his post after he was reportedly unable to pass a background check.

According to the same Politico report, Van Dyck's colleague Mikey Dickerson, another USDS founder, is working in tech to oppose the current administration’s actions. In a post by Code for America Founder Jennifer Pahlka, also the former U.S. deputy chief technology officer, wrote about the struggle for tech workers to transition to the Trump administration.