Christopher Whitaker

Christopher Whitaker

@civicwhitaker.com

Civic Technologist | Executive Director, Alliance of Civic Technologists | Army Veteran | Alumni of Code for America, Defense Digital Service and USDS #civictech #chicago #illinois Really doesn’t like bullies Signal: civicwhitaker.53

2K followers1.7K following1.5K posts

Christopher Whitaker reposted

Katie Drummond
@katie-drummond.bsky.social

NEW: The DOGE operative who gutted USAID -- firing thousands of employees and canceling lifesaving programs -- never actually signed the paperwork that's legally required for him to be employed by the agency.

wired.comA 28-Year-Old DOGE Operative Gutted USAID. HR Had No Record of Him Working ThereDespite the agency's human resources department saying he hadn’t even been onboarded, Jeremy Lewin oversaw the destruction of USAID. It’s not clear he had the legal authority to do so.
Christopher Whitaker
@civicwhitaker.com

The cool part is that now there’s totally precedent to do automated benefits for SNAP and Medicaid!! I’m being snarky, but after this there’s no excuse to dismantle the extra admin burden placed on SNAP/Medicaid via the One Big Bill

Don Moynihan@donmoyn.bsky.social

Trump's $5K checks have become a punchline because few think he will deliver. But he has given 1 million people a $500 check (mostly in swing states), and abt 20 million a $90 check (w propaganda letters). No-one applied. The process was automated, using administrative data to target payments.

Christopher Whitaker
@civicwhitaker.com

Who is the reporter that fed him the Chicago question?

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

😬 Trump sounds like hell during bizarre pre-rally gaggle 😬 Trump could barely speak, but what he said was nutso. He claimed his uncle invented radar, said he could "violate" Prizker and send troops into Chicago, and had a weirdly contradictory answer when asked who he golfed with today. Supercut:

Christopher Whitaker reposted

Matt Novak
@paleofuture.bsky.social

“Before July 2025, one of the food bank’s locations served between 20 and 40 families per day, he said. Now, more than 260 families come in daily for help…”

Katie Bergh@katiebergh.bsky.social

About 2 million kids have lost SNAP since deep cuts were enacted last year. The ripple effects: Kids losing SNAP also lose automatic enrollment for free meals at school. And as more kids lose SNAP, their schools may be forced to drop Community Eligibility.

washingtonpost.comAs SNAP rolls shrink, free school lunches disappearEnrollment in the nutrition assistance program dropped following last year’s sweeping GOP tax bill. Fewer children and schools now qualify for free school meals.
Christopher Whitaker
@civicwhitaker.com

This is exactly why vendor lock-in is the devil. At this point, it would be potentially cheaper & better for the County/City to combine forces and share a common digital service to build it ourselves and open source the code so other counties don't get screwed over too.

Chicago Tribune@chicagotribune.com

Tyler Technologies, the company that has spent more than a decade helming the troubled and often-stalled overhaul of Cook County’s property tax technology that has led to repeated delays in homeowners getting their bills, is in line for a two-year extension.

chicagotribune.comCounty proposing $18 million renewal with controversial vendor Tyler Technologies

Christopher Whitaker reposted

Katie Bergh
@katiebergh.bsky.social

About 2 million kids have lost SNAP since deep cuts were enacted last year. The ripple effects: Kids losing SNAP also lose automatic enrollment for free meals at school. And as more kids lose SNAP, their schools may be forced to drop Community Eligibility.

washingtonpost.comAs SNAP rolls shrink, free school lunches disappearEnrollment in the nutrition assistance program dropped following last year’s sweeping GOP tax bill. Fewer children and schools now qualify for free school meals.

Christopher Whitaker reposted

Tony Stark
@tonystark.bsky.social

“Pete broke the world Eisenhower built.”

Bill Grueskin@bgrueskin.bsky.social

Hegseth: We are banning reporters from the Pentagon. Washpost: We have exclusive photos of the historic Dwight Eisenhower globe that was damaged in Hegseth's zeal to move it out of storage and into his office. Gift link ⤵️ wapo.st/3WF2YQo

Christopher Whitaker reposted

Ryan Ottignon
@ryaninevanston.bsky.social

NEW: Jaupre Williams is the name of the masked ICE agent who pushed an Evanston man — a US citizen — to the ground and detained him last month, I report. Five days later, outside Chicago's Domestic Violence Courthouse, he said he'd kill an onlooker if they interfered with an arrest. THREAD 🧵

dailynorthwestern.comThe Daily identifies Jaupre Williams as ICE agent who pushed Evanston resident to ground in September The Daily identifies ICE agent who pushed Evanston resident to groundImmigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jaupre Williams was the second agent involved in the Sept. 20 detainment of an Evanston man, according to a Daily review of internal ICE records as well as do...
Christopher Whitaker
@civicwhitaker.com

Bullies shouldn’t be in charge of government service delivery.

Natalie Alms@almsnatalie.bsky.social

The first use case of the Americagov chatbot, which the administration launched with fanfare last month, saying it was meant to help Americans access government: a fraud tip line. www.washingtonsun.com/administrati...

washingtonsun.comTrump Is Cutting Right-Wing YouTuber Nick Shirley a Check for His Minnesota VideoShirley is receiving $10,000 as part of a new fraud tipline rewards program.
Christopher Whitaker
@civicwhitaker.com

The key trait to a good civic technologist - or any public servant really - is empathy. You have to root yourself in the needs of the public. DOGE/NDS and the assholes who made aliens.gov seem to have rooted themselves solely on the whims of few and it shows.

Christopher Whitaker
@civicwhitaker.com

When this is over, really over, there’s going to be mountain of work that technologists will have to do to regain the trust of civil servants. We’ll need to approach with humility and a willingness to hold DOGE accountable for what they did.

Christopher Whitaker
@civicwhitaker.com

Many people are saying: www.liberalcurrents.com/congress-nee...

liberalcurrents.comCongress Needs Its Tech Experts BackIf Congress is to tackle issues from DOGE sabotage to AI to social media, it needs to resurrect its Office of Technology Assessment.
Politico@politico.com

Wanted: Tech experts to help Congress regulate AI politi.co/4i4C0sr

politico.comWanted: Tech experts to help Congress regulate AI politi.co/4i4C0srWanted: Tech experts to help Congress regulate AI politi.co/4i4C0sr

Christopher Whitaker reposted

Tammy Duckworth
@duckworth.senate.gov

Behind closed doors, the DoD has made a bad habit of classifying the minimal details they choose to tell Congress. Why? Because if it's classified, we can't talk about it and they can go on hiding the cost of this war from the public. No more. Americans deserve to know.

Christopher Whitaker reposted

Rick Hasen
@rickhasen.bsky.social

Must -Read LA Times Story on DOJ’s Despicable Conduct in Its Los Angeles Voter Fraud Arrests electionlawblog.org/2026/must-re...

electionlawblog.orgMust -Read LA Times Story on DOJ’s Despicable Conduct in Its Los Angeles Voter Fraud Arrests #ELBThis must-read LA Times story makes me so angry: At the federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles late Monday, several green card holders arrested in a crackdown on alleged California voter fraud exp...
Christopher Whitaker
@civicwhitaker.com

All jokes aside, procurement rules are designed to prevent corruption and waste as a necessary friction. It's when those rules are broken that you have scandals and failures.

Christopher Whitaker
@civicwhitaker.com

I know this is what is being shared (WITH GOOD REASONS) but honestly, he probably won my Michigan family members with “Laughs at Ohio”

Abdul El-Sayed@abdulelsayed.bsky.social

This is Tommy. Tommy had a question about my allegiances. Listen to the end to hear about his.

Christopher Whitaker
@civicwhitaker.com

I’m not a native Midwesterner, I married into it, and I can not even begin to describe how Michigan he sounds. I expect him to do the hand thing showing where he grew up at any given moment.

Christopher Whitaker reposted

Ezra Levin ❌👑
@ezralevin.bsky.social

❗❗❗Mark Zuckerberg's meta just suspended the No Kings Instagram account. I just rushed back from my local No Kings to jump on this. Bottom line, would be helpful for all pro-No Kings folks to elevate the issue and help us get the word out about No Kings today. The Nerd Reich strikes again.

Christopher Whitaker
@civicwhitaker.com

When I teach product management, I use the cybertruck as a prime example of ‘who is this for’ and we inevitably get to this mismatch between young families and Teslas. Doing it with a flying car feels like parody.

Christopher Whitaker
@civicwhitaker.com

This is why procurement is a pain in the ass. To prevent stuff like this.

Carl Quintanilla@carlquintanilla.bsky.social

WAPO: The lining “failed in at least 85 places because of errors in the renovation, including the premature refilling of the basin before the liner had fully dried ..” @washingtonpost.com www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

Christopher Whitaker
@civicwhitaker.com

We need answers on if Musk did this unilaterally or if this was ordered. Both scenarios are bad.

Adam Schwarz@adamjschwarz.bsky.social

Ukrainian presidential advisor Serhiy Beskrestnov confirms Elon Musk's Space X crippled Ukrainian capabilities last night. In other words, the US deliberately sabotaged European defence operations mid-mission. Every country in the world should move away from buying American hardware ASAP.

Christopher Whitaker
@civicwhitaker.com

Me: Oh, things that make fire do not connect to the internet Them: you’re just being silly Me:

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix.bsky.social

Keep an eye on your internet-connected ovens and lawnmowers. "Anthropic has warned that rogue “AI worms” will soon be able to hijack smart home devices such as ovens and TVs, creating a new cyber security threat that will be difficult to contain."

ft.comAnthropic warns rogue AI agents may ‘self-replicate’ to hijack ovensClaude maker suggests models could act as ‘worms’ to spread across smart home appliances such as lawnmowers and TVs in future cyber security threat

Christopher Whitaker reposted

Professa Murray
@kalimurray.bsky.social

One very easy fix here: if you worked for DOGE, you are immediately barred from working on any federal contracts, www.acquisition.gov/far/subpart-....

acquisition.govSubpart 9.4 - Debarment, Suspension, and Ineligibility | Acquisition.GOV
Murshed Zaheed@murshedz.bsky.social

“many of his former DOGE foot soldiers have leveraged their government stints to fuel private-sector ambitions: building companies that tap government largesse or that deploy knowledge they garnered during their brief tenures in Washington.” It’s the accountability, stupid. cc: Democrats

washingtonpost.comThey came to Washington to dismantle government. Now, they’re profiting from it.DOGE alumni have leveraged their government experience, raising at least half a billion dollars for firms spanning cyberwarfare, AI and data centers, a Post analysis found.
Christopher Whitaker
@civicwhitaker.com

This seems similar to what happened when ICE shot and killed Silverio Gonzalez last year. Compare what happened in NY to @unraveledpress.com’s detailed story on what happened in Franklin Park. unraveledpress.com/what-happene...

unraveledpress.comWhat happened to Silverio Villegas GonzálezImmigration agents shot and killed an unarmed 38-year-old father outside Chicago on Friday—and their initial narrative of events was quickly disproven by videos captured by witnesses.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social

The NYPD just released surveillance video of the ICE shooting (which occurred off camera). Two men in civilian clothes run up to a car with guns drawn. One second later, one man begins smashing the butt of his gun into the driver’s side window. The driver appears to panic and hit the gas.