A growing controversy is unfolding at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) as aides to Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and owner of X (formerly Twitter), are accused of locking career civil servants out of vital computer systems. These systems, which contain sensitive personal information of millions of federal employees, have raised significant concerns regarding transparency and cybersecurity.
The OPM, responsible for managing the federal workforce, has become the center of a government overhaul spearheaded by Musk allies. Since President Donald Trump took office on January 20, Musk’s appointees have moved swiftly to reshape the agency, including installing former and current Musk employees, such as Brian Bjelde, an ex-SpaceX vice president, into key positions. The new team, including Musk associates, has already made major changes, including moving OPM’s chief management officer, Katie Malague, to a different floor.
According to two anonymous OPM officials, several senior civil servants have had their access revoked to key databases such as the Enterprise Human Resources Integration (EHRI). This system holds sensitive data on federal employees, including Social Security numbers, pay grades, and home addresses. While affected employees can still access email systems, they no longer have visibility into crucial personnel data, creating a significant gap in oversight.
The impact of these changes is not just administrative—there are grave concerns about cybersecurity and the potential for mishandling or misusing this sensitive data. “We have no visibility into what they are doing with the computer and data systems,” one official stated. The lack of transparency and the abrupt nature of these decisions have also sparked worries about the future role of congressional oversight and the overall health of the federal bureaucracy.
Musk’s influence has been far-reaching, extending beyond OPM. Reports also indicate that his aides have caused upheaval within the Treasury Department, leading to the departure of a senior official, David Lebryk. These actions reflect Musk’s broader ambitions to reshape the federal government, potentially sidelining career civil servants in favor of loyalists.
Musk’s approach mirrors tactics he employed at X, where he moved to implement drastic operational changes, including installing beds in offices to keep employees working around the clock. The introduction of such measures at OPM has led some insiders to describe the situation as a “hostile takeover.”
As these developments unfold, many federal employees remain in the dark, with OPM memos outlining drastic measures, such as offering federal employees buyout packages, being sent without prior notice. Critics argue that such moves signal a deeper, more concerning shift in how the U.S. government is being managed under the Trump administration.
