Aides to Elon Musk, who has been tasked by President Donald Trump to reduce the size of the US government workforce, have locked career civil servants out of computer systems containing personal data of millions of federal employees. Since taking office, Trump has fired and sidelined hundreds of civil servants, and Musk has swiftly installed allies at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
Some senior career employees at OPM have had their access revoked to certain data systems, including a vast database containing personal information of government workers, such as dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and pay grades. The officials affected can still log on and access functions like email, but cannot see the massive datasets.
The move has raised concerns about congressional oversight and how Trump and Musk view the federal bureaucracy. A professor at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan said the actions inside OPM make it harder for anyone outside Musk’s inner circle to know what’s going on.
Musk’s team has also moved sofa beds onto the fifth floor of OPM’s headquarters, where they can work around the clock, and has installed a new chief of staff, Amanda Scales, a former Musk employee. The team has also sent out memos encouraging civil servants to consider buyout offers and take a vacation to a “dream destination.”
The moves by Musk’s aides at OPM and the Treasury building, where other Musk aides have caused upheaval, underscore the sweeping influence Musk is having across government. The actions have raised concerns about cybersecurity and hacking implications, as well as the lack of oversight and transparency.
