If you're a software developer, and your goal is to maximize income, then yeah, don't work for the federal government. If your goal is to do meaningful work that has a tangible positive impact on average people's lives, while being paid a fair living wage, then these jobs are unbeatable.
I did a stint in the government working for a team that eventually had a lot people go over to 18F. I joined on hoping to see exactly what you describe, willing to take a pay cut for meaningful work.
My experience was very different than yours has been. My impression was that it was largely bureaucrats looking to further their own position in the massive bureaucracy. It was virtually impossible to do any "meaningful work". The handful of people passionate about doing good for the world were constantly blocked by other bureaucrats who were only interested in maintaining (or expanding) their tiny island of power they had accrued.
I vividly recall needing data from another agency to help solve a problem we were working on and being told that it would be virtually impossible to get any cooperation because it would make them look bad if we succeeded using their data. My entire time as a Federal employee was filled with similar such moments. All of the work I did, which ended up proving some seriously privacy vulnerabilities in another project, was dismissed because people didn't want to hear it. The experience forever changed my view on government.
The plus side is I did meet some fantastic, although terminally frustrated, people while I was there. It is a great place to meet people who have similar ambitions.
For someone looking for meaningful work I would advise staying far away from the federal government.
Only guy I knew who ever worked for the government quit in disgust after 6 months because of how little was getting done, so I don't think it's particularly good for that either.
Here's a cynical take: you could also be a government contractor, work on those same meaningful projects that have tangible positive impacts, etc., and make $200 an hour.
Healthcare.gov is the project that kicked off USDS (because the site was so horrible and the contractors charged billions). That site impacts millions of lives.
There’s lots of important government projects. I actually think the rate of BS/meaningful may be higher in government than private given the number of cow clicker/BS-type projects.
