As Biden Signs On, Trump Appointees Share Social Media Sign-Offs

Outgoing Trump-appointed officials turned to social media on Wednesday to reflect on their tenures and bid farewell to their government positions. 

Simultaneously, a few federal agencies tweeted greetings to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris as they assumed their new roles and official social media accounts. 

“Welcome, @POTUS!” the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency tweeted right around the time of inauguration—and the point when that presidential Twitter alias pivoted from reflecting Donald Trump’s term and profile to Joe Biden’s. CISA, currently at the heart of the government’s ongoing response to a massive breach of federal information systems, added its team is “ready to work alongside the new administration to help the nation defend against today’s threats and to build a more secure & resilient infrastructure for the future,” and followed up with a couple of hashtags. The Defense Digital Service also expressed a similar sentiment. 

That Twitter-based account both agencies mentioned—@POTUS—garnered many millions of followers during Donald Trump’s four-year term, but he was banned from using it, the platform, and other social networking services for what they deemed to be violence-inciting posts during his final days in office. Biden assumed control of the account at 12:01 p.m. Wednesday as part of the digital transition. 

In his first personally written tweet from it, the 46th president said he was “heading to the Oval Office to get right to work delivering bold action and immediate relief for American families.”

On Biden’s first day, former Trump administration officials also used social media as a medium to communicate goodbyes and thanks for the support they gained along the way.

Via LinkedIn, and from the official Twitter account @USCTO, former U.S. chief technology officer Michael Kratsios said he was proud of achievements made “to ensure America leads the world in emerging technology.” He added that “continued U.S. leadership has never been more of an imperative,” and also encouraged users to follow his personal Twitter account.

The official Defense Department Chief Information Officer Twitter account also shared a quote from DOD CIO Dana Deasy noting that it’s been his “honor and privilege to work alongside the great men and women of the DOD Cyber and IT workforce providing cutting edge support to our nation’s warfighters,” and that he’s proud of what they accomplished. 

Another tech-savvy Defense appointee, Dr. Will Roper, posted a one-page letter on his own personal Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. In his “final Air Force and Space Force weekly correspondence,” the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics celebrated “strides” in agile software, rapid prototyping and artificial intelligence that he pursued during his service, and urged military insiders to continue to push forward toward a more evolved, competitive ecosystem. 

Cybersecurity and technology-focused appointees from civilian agencies, including the Agriculture, Veterans Affairs and Energy departments, also published online so-longs. The latter’s former Under Secretary for Science Paul Dabbar—who helped the agency launch new quantum information centers to drive research advancements and advance its exascale, high-performance supercomputing capabilities, among other efforts—tweeted a link to a letter looking back on his service.

“The prospects for the ‘Department of Exploration’ have never been stronger,” he wrote. 

Mila Jasper contributed to this report.