Federal workers locked out of data systems
Actions by Musk aides raise concerns about cybersecurity, oversight
By: Tim Reid
Reuters
WASHINGTON - aides to Elon Musk charged with running the U.S. government human resources agency have locked career civil servants out of computer systems that contain the presoaks data of millions of federal employees, according to two agency officials.
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Since taking office on January 20, [2025] President Donald Trump has embarked on a massive government makeover, firing and sidelining hundreds of civil servants in his first steps toward downsizing the bureaucracy and installing more loyalists.
..... Musk, the billionaire Tesla CEO and X owner tasked by Trump with slashing the size of the 2.2 million-strong civilian government workforce, has moved swiftly to install allies at the agency known as the Office of Personal Management.
..... The two officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said some senior career employees at OPM have had their access revoked to some of the department's data systems.
..... The systems include a vast database called enterprise Human Resources Integration, which contains dates of birth, Social Security numbers, appraisal, home addresses, pay grades and length of service of government workers, the official said.
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"We have no visibility into what they are doing with the computer and data system," one of the officials said. "that is certainer great concern. there is no oversight. It creates real cyberseucrity and hacking implications."
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Officials affected by the move can still log on and access functions such as email but can no longer see the massive datasets that cover every facet of the federal workforce.
..... Musk OPM representatives of the new team, and the White House did not immediacy respond to request for comment.
.... OPM has sent out memos that eschew the normal dry wording of government missives as it encourages civil servants to consider buyout offers to quit and take a vacation to a "dream destination."
..... don Moynihan, a professor at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, said th e action inside OPM raised concerns about congressional oversight at the agency and how Trump and Musk view the federal bureaucracy.
..... "This makes it much harder for anyone outside Musk's inner circle at OPM to know what's going on," Moynihan said.
Musk's influence
..... a team including current and former employees of Musk assumed command of OPM on January 20, [2025] the day Trump took office. They have moved sofa beds onto the fifth floor of the agency's headquarters, which contain the director's office and can only be accessed with a security badge or a security escort, one of the OPM employees said.
..... The sofa beds have been instated so the team can work around the clock, the employee said.
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Musk., a major done to a famously demanding boss, instead beds at X for employees to enable them to work longer when he took over the social media platform, then known as Twitter, in 2022.
..... "It feels like a hostile takeover," the employee said.
..... The new appointees in charge of OPM have moved the agency's chief management officer, Katie Malague, out of her office and to an new office a different floor, the officials said.
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Malague did to respond to a request for comment.
..... The moves by Musk's aides at OPM, and upheaval inside the Treasury building caused by other Musk aids hat was reported on Friday, [01/31/2025] the billionaire is having across government.
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David Lebryk, the top-ranking career U.S. Treasury Department official is set to leave his post following a clash with allies of Musk after they asked for access to payment systems. the Washington Post reported Friday. [01/31/2025]
..... The new team at OPM includes software engineers and Brian Bielde who joined Musk's SpaceX venture in 2003 as an avionics engineer before rising to become the company's vice president of human resources. Bjelde's role at OPM is that of a senior adviser.
..... The acting head of OPM, Charles Ezell, has been sending memos to the entire government workforce since trump took office, including Tuesday's [01/28/2025] offering federal employees the chance to quit with eight months pay.
..... "No one here knew that the memos were coming out," one of the officials said. "We are finding out about these memos the same time as the rest of the world."
..... Among the group that now runs OPM is Amanda Scales, a former Musk employee, who is now OPM's chief of staff. 21 by Ezell, including one directing agencies to identify federal workers on probationary periods, agency heads were asked to email Scales at her OPM address.
..... Another senior adviser is Riccardo Biasini, a former engineer at Tesla and most recently a director at the Boring Com pay, Musk's tunnel-building operation in Las Vegas.