I totally agree with you. The first wave of USDS hires were highly motivated to refactor/repair/replace the ACA infrastructure. Most came from much higher paying jobs in Silicon Valley. I doubt the same levels of motivation and excitement are still there, but I could be wrong. There was also a lot of political will and pressure that made those early USDS tasks remotely possible. Without that pressure, I imagine the vendors and the bureaucracy, which was barely tolerable a decade ago, would not be tolerated by most highly qualified candidates.