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In hidden message on White House website, Biden calls for coders

A moving truck departs outside of the West Wing of the White House at dawn on January 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The recently updated website for President Joe Biden’s White House carried an invitation for tech specialists savvy enough to find it.

Hidden in the HTML code on whitehouse.gov was an invitation to join the U.S. Digital Service, a technology unit within the White House.


“If you’re reading this, we need your help building back better,” the message said.

Screenshot from HTML source code on whitehouse.gov.

Former President Barack Obama launched the service in 2014 to recruit technologists to help revamp government services – for example by modernizing Medicare’s payment system or reforming hiring practices across government agencies.

Tech specialists join the Digital Service for typically one or two years.

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