Arnold Author Takes Aim At Washington’s Strangest Habits In New Satire, “The Day Before And After DOGE”

Jeff Nelligan spent 30 years inside the federal government. Now he’s writing about it - with a sharper pencil than any agency style guide would allow.

His new satire, “The Day Before and After DOGE,” begins with an email entitled “Fork in the Road,” sent to 2.2 million federal employees who didn’t realize they were on a road. Soon a squad of young tech disruptors arrives at the Division of Management Systems, Operations and Policy (vending machines/mobility scooters) with one uncomfortably simple question: “What did you do last week?”

What follows is a collision between career bureaucrats and brash outsiders who are certain they can reboot the government in two weeks. Along the way, readers discover a workplace where a 25-character tweet requires a week of clearance and three consultants are paid to manage a single PDF.

“Everyone has a theory about what goes on behind federal office doors,” said Nelligan, an Arnold resident. “The truth is often stranger than the satire, and the people on both sides are more human than the headlines make them seem.”

The book follows seven irreplaceable federal employees as they face off with outsiders. It skewers the jargon of “robust holistic modalities that reimagine bandwidth in the paradigm space” while capturing the clash between Washington’s permanent institutions and Silicon Valley’s move-fast mentality.

Nelligan’s career spanned Capitol Hill and the executive branch. He worked for three members of Congress, held presidential appointments at the departments of State and Health and Human Services, and served in senior leadership at the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the Food and Drug Administration.

“The Day Before and After DOGE” is available on Amazon.