Youth distrust of mainstream media is more intense than ever. Forty-eight percent of people 18 to 29 say keeping up with politics is one reason they’re on TikTok. Amid the contracting and crumbling of the media industry, we’re in the era of the YouTube video essay, the talking-to-camera headline roundup, and the independently run newsletter. Welcome to Teen Vogue’s new series Logged On, where we talk to the people bringing you politics and the news in innovative and fun ways.
The anonymous account Dear White Staffers first gained notoriety in early 2020, around the time congressional workers announced their intention to form a union. In the years since, the account’s focus has shifted from sharing the workplace complaints of Hill staffers to amplifying a number of social justice efforts, collab-posting on Instagram with organizers nationwide to put their work in front of its 200,000-plus following.
In this latest installment of Logged On, the Hill staffer behind the Dear White Staffers account — who wants to remain anonymous for safety reasons — got on Zoom with Teen Vogue to talk about leaking information from dissatisfied federal staffers, pushing back on anti-trans compliance under the Trump administration, and more.
This interview has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.
Dear White Staffers: The role the account has played has been this anonymous outlet for “good,” for justice, not to sound too corny. Over the last year, where a lot of staff on the Hill were vocally really upset about their boss’s stance on Gaza, for instance, there were moments where we were able to organize online around that. Most recently, I have been receiving hundreds of messages from federal workers, [those who are] still working but also a lot who have been laid off or fired.
A lot of federal workers, at least the ones I've spoken to, there's a good number who feel in some way apolitical. A lot of them do feel like, “I am just a public servant, I am not a pawn of either party, I don't want to push either party. I'm just trying to work and serve and support myself or my loved ones.” So I think that's where this account comes in, where it's like, they don't necessarily want to be featured all over the media. They just want people to understand what's happening.
Obviously, there's a ton of distrust in a lot of traditional media outlets for a variety of reasons. I think some federal workers are also scared to experience retaliation for speaking to the media, so there's that aspect as well.
DWS: There's kind of a spectrum of messages. There's some where it's just a quick update or tip, here and there. Because they’re federal workers who were using their first and last names on their Instagram accounts, they are real people who you're able to look up and find their information out there.
There are some messages that feel extremely specific, where I feel like it would endanger them to share the information, so sometimes we're able to draft up something together that's getting the information out there without endangering the source.
There's definitely been a number of instances where it felt too specific, and then [I] had to pull something down, because then the person would message me, “Oh my God, my coworkers saw this and now they're upset!” I’ll be like, “Let's just remove this and we'll figure something out. Take care of yourself." Everyone's safety is first and foremost. That is top priority. I don't want anyone to get in trouble. I don't want any harm done, I don't want anyone to lose their job. So that's really important.
Then there's definitely some sensitive information that I would love to share, but I feel like it's either so salacious or I would need to really verify before posting something like that. And a lot of this information comes sometimes just before it's been reported on, or a day before it's reported on, so it eventually does all get out there. I've seen some of these things become actual stories. I try to use a level of discretion there. It's very easy to just post everything.
Also, I am trusting the source and the audience to understand that these are submissions that are coming in, and I am doing my best to vet everything. But I'm a one-person team, so I am gonna do all the vetting that I can — that one person can do with minimal resources — here.
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DWS: I was here eight years ago when Trump was first [in office], and at the very least there was kind of a, you know, “#resistance.” At least we had that. Now there really isn't [one] in Congress, at least; it's more the people out there marching and storming these town halls and everything.
So on the Hill and in the halls, it's definitely some doomer aspects. It's just depressing. I think a lot of people are feeling a little aimless. People are just kind of taking it day by day. There's also just this shared frustration that’s either people feeling that their bosses aren't doing enough or that Democratic leadership isn't doing enough. What is going on? There isn't a clear leader in the party.
DWS: Bernie Sanders had a really great weekend in the West, and that was a nice salve amongst all this. Like, “Oh, wow, there are people who really care.” It's great to have at least one senator who's out there, messaging the way that really resonates with a lot of people. That's really exciting.
And it's sad to see that juxtaposed with [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer and [House Minority Leader] Hakeem Jeffries, whose messaging just feels extremely insufficient, and falls apart immediately. It's just like, I cannot believe that you are the leader of this “opposition party.” That is really frustrating.
It's also a situation where I sorely miss Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush and messengers like them. They would have been obviously great to have in Congress right about now. But we’ve got the rest of the Squad, who are doing their thing. It's hard, honestly, [as] anyone [can see], in this media ecosystem, trying to cut through the flooding of the zone; but it's clear that there are certain messaging tactics at work — like Bernie's rally. That is cool to bring your town hall energy to the people.
[AOC’s] “know your rights” stuff was really great, and it would be cool to see more Democrats do that kind of thing. That feels a little bit more material: Here's what you can do, here's what you shouldn't do, stuff like that. I think that'd be cool.
DWS: I do feel that trans health care was not talked about at all. I don't think anyone [in office] said a f**king thing when a number of hospitals just straight-up complied [with the Trump administration’s order to stop gender-affirming care for people under 19], what is it, 90 days before the deadline?
That is so heinous to leave kids without care — that's crazy, to leave them in complete limbo. Children's National Hospital in DC was one of them, and I didn't expect Mayor Bowser or the DC rep to say anything. Then the [Children's Hospital of] Richmond also complied early, and I don't think that representative said anything. I was trying to find someone who was gonna say a f**king thing — just a tweet, some acknowledgement — and there was nothing.
I went to one rally at the Children's National Hospital here in DC, and it was actually very well-attended. A ton of different people were there, and there were a lot of great speakers. We got to yell at these hospital administrators who are walking into work, trying to make them feel some sense of shame.
But yeah, it was extremely disappointing to see almost no one say anything about trans people. And that's also after having ample opportunities to talk about [Republican Rep.] Nancy Mace and the [bill to ban trans women from using the appropriate] bathroom [on federal property], and the implications beyond just the Capitol Hill building. It has implications in your damn district. It's just, like, come on.
DWS: In exchange for an email address and my algorithm and geo location and whatever, I'm able to create this platform here.
Obviously, Twitter or X is a tremendous cesspool now, and at the same time, I don't want to cede that ground yet. It is terrible, it is the worst one right now, but there are still people I organized with through that medium, and so it sucks. Until there's a legitimate alternative of that scale, of Instagram and Twitter, it is what we have right now.
A lot of people are also really careful when they're sharing information on these platforms now. People are wanting to move it over to Signal or any other encrypted form of communication.… But there's also still a level of very reasonable distrust in how encrypted or how safe any of those things are. I think about how big a lot of these right-wing creators or influencers are on these platforms, and I just don't want to give up on that space. I think it's worth being there, and it's worth fighting on there, until the end.
DWS: Safety is such an odd thing in this day and age. [With] my personal safety, just walking around on Capitol Hill and having been the target of Richie Torres [in the media and online], and of Jewish Insider, and whoever else, that sucks; it definitely puts a target on my back. And it is hurtful that other Jews think I'm antisemitic. That is really painful at times.
I think there will be a time when I want to shed the anonymity and start to venture out, but I just feel like, right now, I haven't quite figured out what that would look like. Maybe it would be tied into whatever next step or next form this project takes on. I don't know if that's off Capitol Hill or wherever else.
I definitely think about it from time to time, but I don't know, it is still somewhat important to me to have some sense of safety there. At least on Capitol Hill, that safety is very thin, but out in the real world, I'm still just an anonymous person, and that is nice.
DWS: I am literally trying to figure out what is next. Sometimes I don't even need to think about what is next because what is next just comes to you. After October 7, I focused primarily on the genocide in Gaza. That was a very obvious focus for me. As soon as that happened, I was like, You know what? I'm willing to nuke this account, if they want to cancel this account and come after me. I would 100% ride for Gaza.
I don't ever have time to think about what the development of this project will eventually be. It's kind of a little bit of everything [right now]. I've enjoyed being an organizer and being able to use this account to push messages, out here and there, and uplift the work of my friends who are doing direct actions here in the Capitol or have something going on in LA during the fires.
The people that I've been able to meet and organize with online have been such a tremendous honor. I'm always amazed by people doing their work and projects in their neck of the woods, and then coming to me and being like, “Hey, can you upload this?” I'm like, “Yeah, of course. Let's figure out how we can work together, and just keep building.” Being able to continue to connect and convene people is immensely cool.
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