The uncertainty that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has created for federal employees has made it difficult to focus on tasks, according to two employees who spoke to Chronicle Media on the condition of anonymity. “Everyone’s waiting,” one worker said. “We don’t know what they’re coming for next.”

As Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency crew worked last week to download and rummage through massive tranches of data in agencies across the U.S. government, federal employees in the Chicago region and elsewhere were on high alert, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

However, the sound they heard was not the thud of a shoe, but the roar of a chainsaw as thousands of workers were suddenly fired.

For those still employed, there is a distressing uncertainty about their job status and even the very future of their departments. Media reports continue to detail the unprecedented access Musk has been given over extraordinarily sensitive government data, including personally identifiable information for millions of federal employees and tens of millions of citizens.

Meanwhile, in Illinois, a Republican state representative is proposing a DOGE-like bureau for state government. Last week, Rockford area Rep. John Cabello of the 90th District filed House Bill 1266, which calls for the creation of an Illinois Department of Government Efficiency.

Six fellow Republicans have signed on as co-sponsors, including House Minority Leader Tony McCombie and House Republican Caucus Deputy Budgeteer Amy Elik of the 111th District.

Elik is also a member of the Legislative Audit Commission, which is designed by law to audit state audits. It’s “responsible for the oversight of the State Audit Program, review of the stewardship of public funds, and the monitoring action to correct weaknesses disclosed by the audits of state agencies.

She wants to be able to see any problems in advance.

“The errors, the problems have already occurred,” she said in a recent media interview. “Let’s make sure that we’re addressing those on the front end.”

For two veteran federal employees, DOGE’s chainsaw approach to government efficiency feels not like responsible oversight, but an existential threat. The workers – one from the Chicago area, the other from the East Coast – say the risks to jobs and to the interests of average Americans is real and present.

Honoring their requests to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation for speaking critically of President Donald Trump and Musk, Chronicle Media will refer to the Chicago area employee as Chitown and the East Coast employee as Yankee.

“We all knew something big was coming,” Yankee said.

A recent email had informed personnel, “The federal workforce is expected to undergo significant near- term changes. As a result of these changes (or for other reasons), you may wish to depart the federal government on terms that provide you with sufficient time and economic security to plan for your future.”

Department supervisors were receiving “data lists” of people targeted for termination, they said.

Neither source has a problem with government imposing efficiencies. Certain reforms, done in a thoughtful manner, are needed, they acknowledged.

However, they say, Trump and Musk are being reckless and irresponsible with systems built to protect people’s privacy and the integrity of highly sensitive information.

In a “friend of the court” brief filed recently by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and other state attorneys general in one of several federal lawsuits, Raoul criticizes the “arbitrarily short deadline” of a Department of Government Efficiency directive, and its “coercive and opaque” nature.

“The work environment is very toxic,” said Yankee, “because of the (Trump) administration and the trauma they’re inflicting on the federal workforce.”

It’s had a chilling effect, Yankee said.

“I have colleagues who are afraid to speak on social media because of the vindictiveness of this administration,” Yankee said.

Chitown said the situation feels existential for many career workers, and is taking a toll on many, including Yankee, who was reportedly targeted for termination, but not formally notified of being fired, and so spent a long Presidents Day weekend assuming the worst had occurred.

Yankee described an emotional meat grinder, with Friday night “basically spent doom-scrolling on the internet.”

There was plenty of time for it, as sleep was nearly impossible. “Seven hours (sleep) in four nights,” Yankee said.

Yankee, who has children, also spent the weekend bracing for their emotional reaction to the news that one of their parents had lost their job.

“I (would have) had to tell my kids I was terminated from a job I loved,” Yankee said, adding, “watching the emotions flow across my kids’ faces.”

Yankee was still employed Tuesday morning, another list would show. However, that offered muted relief.

“I felt like I’d been beaten up emotionally,” Yankee said. “It was really hard to jump back into work.”

For all the strain, though, Yankee knows others who are suffering much more, saying, “I know people with disabilities, and veterans who have been let go.”

Paychecks are not their only concern. Both also fear that Department of Government Efficiency apparatchiks’ actions could damage or destroy complex systems which took decades to build.

“If they want to educate (DOGE personnel) on how to protect this data, and only use it for appropriate purposes, I don’t have an issue with that,” Chitown said. “The issue is that there are no guardrails right now.”

“What I know is that there is a risk that misuse could severely harm people,” Chitown said. “Third parties shouldn’t have access to government employees’ information.”

Chitown said that personnel are also getting emails demanding their “loyalty,” a demand that is particularly disturbing.

“It doesn’t matter who you voted for. Our loyalty was never to a specific party,” said Chitown. “It’s to doing the job.

“We’re here to serve our communities. I don’t know anybody who didn’t get into this job to help people. It’s frustrating to feel our employer is out to get us.”

Chitown said the work they perform is for the benefit of individual citizens who have to deal with large, powerful corporations.

“Last year at Health and Human Services and the Employee Benefits Security Administration, the monetary recovery to people was $11 billion,” said Chitown. “To do that, we need to be able to see the information, very personal information, to be able to assist them.”

“There are protections in place,” Chitown said.

Access to the personal information in government files “is only for a legitimate government purpose. We look for compliance with the law. It’s never about an individual.”

Chitown is also concerned with Musk’s conflict of interest, saying, “(The Occupational Safety and Health Administration) has investigated Elon’s companies in the past. The Department of Labor is investigating. What if OSHA’s investigating a friend of Elon’s?

“If he wants to target somebody, we’ve been told to hand over documents.”

The files the Department of Government Efficiency has accessed, Chitown said, “are very detailed. And they’re ‘read-write,’ (and so can be changed). That’s why we’ve all downloaded (back-ups).”

Both employees have taken steps to formally preserve as much as possible of their work product.

“I started to back up as much as I could, saving things to a shared platform,” Yankee said.

They’re also saving things that document their work history and quality.

“People are scrambling to grab all their employment documents,” said Chitown. “Performance reviews, pay stubs.”

Neither one feels there’s light at the end of what they fear will be a long tunnel.

“I think people are hoping the courts will slow things down,” said Yankee, who has no faith that Congress will step in.

However, the court system has its legal limits. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee, recently declined to block DOGE firings, saying he was “duty bound” to decide issues before him based on the law, even in the face of what he termed “an onslaught of executive actions that have caused, some say by design, disruption and even chaos in widespread quarters of American society.”

The uncertainty makes it difficult to focus on important tasks, Yankee said.

“It’s very hard to do the job not knowing what the priorities are anymore,” Yankee said. “Do I start any major tasks or projects?

“Everyone’s waiting. We don’t know what they’re coming for next.”

On Thursday, as Musk celebrated his initial rounds of mass terminations, preening on stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference, he bellowed as he held a chainsaw above his head.

“This is the chainsaw for democracy,” he told his audience.