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Saying Goodbye

Some of the deaths of Direct File.

We asked to use our small USDS team to build a “proof of concept.” This prototype of Direct File would illustrate some of the key issues being discussed in the policy process and develop an evidence base to inform future strategy. I had written a four-page memo outlining the problem and five potential solutions, the whiz-kid designer had storyboarded out an early version of the experience that would eventually ship, and we had assembled a spreadsheet categorizing the filing options available in every state in the nation. But as I told the team as the end closed in, “We took a pipedream, and made it a policy choice.” No one can claim with a straight face that Direct File is impossible anymore; bringing it back requires only that our elected leaders make a different choice.

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