HHS has a new DOGE-affiliated technology chief

The Department of Health and Human Services has tapped DOGE affiliate Zachary Terrell to be its chief technology officer, sources told FedScoop.

Terrell’s CTO title was confirmed by three officials, who were granted anonymity to be more candid. Taking on the role of CTO comes after his involvement in Department of Government Efficiency work at both HHS and the National Science Foundation, including the cancellation of grants at the science agency. 

One of those sources told FedScoop that Terrell has been in the technology chief role since the beginning of this month and is still at the NSF as well.  

While his leadership role is new, Terrell has previously been involved in work at HHS, including as a member of the department’s DOGE team, according to a recent legal filing by the government. 

Per that document, Terrell was listed as one of the 10 team members given access to at least one sensitive system as part of the DOGE work. Specifically, Terrell was one of five team members who weren’t directly employed by the U.S. DOGE Service — the White House home for the group. 

In response to a request for comment, HHS spokeswoman Emily Hilliard said the agency does not comment on personnel matters.  

According to his LinkedIn page, which now lists his CTO role, Terrell calls himself a “Yeoman” in the U.S. government — a historical term for someone in service to nobility. Per that page, he previously served as a founding full stack engineer at Spindl, a blockchain-based advertising analytics company acquired by Coinbase, and is also founder of a company called Wager. 

His LinkedIn also indicates that he was doing undergraduate research at Kansas State University until March 2022.

The importance of the CTO role at the health agency has varied over the years. The role was vacant for years after Ed Simcox left the position in 2020, but in its final weeks, the Biden administration installed Alicia Rouault in the position as part of a reorganization of technology and cyber functions at the agency.

Rouault’s time at the agency, however, was short-lived. Shortly after the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term, former Palantir executive Clark Minor was installed as the department’s CTO and later became its chief information officer. 

Terrell’s designation in the top technology spot also comes as the department is changing its approach to technology under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. That includes plans to centralize and consolidate IT offices at the agency amid a broader reorganization that slashed thousands of positions across the department. 

Additionally, the department recently became the first to take advantage of a deal OpenAI inked with the General Services Administration to provide ChatGPT access for $1 per agency for one year. As FedScoop previously reported, HHS rolled out ChatGPT across the department earlier this month.