A significant transformation is underway at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) following the appointment of a team led by aides to Elon Musk. This team, which includes several current and former employees of Musk, assumed command on January 20, coinciding with the beginning of the Trump administration. The new leadership has implemented controversial changes that have raised concerns among career civil servants and highlighted the growing influence of Musk in government operations.
The leadership team at OPM is comprised of software engineers and key figures associated with Musk's ventures, including Brian Bjelde, who has been with SpaceX since 2003 as an avionics engineer. Among their first actions was to relocate Katie Malague, the agency's chief management officer, to a new office on a different floor, signaling a clear shift in the agency's hierarchy.
One of the most alarming developments has been the locking out of career civil servants from crucial computer systems containing personal data pertaining to millions of federal employees. These systems include the Enterprise Human Resources Integration database, which houses sensitive information about government workers. Senior career officials at OPM have been stripped of access to various department data systems, effectively sidelining them from their roles.
In a bid to reshape the agency's culture, the new appointees have circulated memos encouraging civil servants to consider buyout offers for early retirement. Some of these memos have taken an unusually casual tone compared to standard governmental communications. One such memo offered federal employees the opportunity to quit with eight months' pay, a proposal that has caught many by surprise.
"This makes it much harder for anyone outside Musk's inner circle at OPM to know what's going on." – Don Moynihan
The new team at OPM has also made notable changes to the physical workspace, including moving sofa beds onto the fifth floor of the agency's headquarters, where the director's office is located. Amanda Scales, a former employee of Musk, is now serving as OPM's chief of staff, further solidifying Musk's influence within the agency.
Charles Ezell, the acting head of OPM, has actively communicated with the entire government workforce through memos since Trump took office. However, many officials reported being blindsided by these communications. "No-one here knew that the memos were coming out. We are finding out about these memos at the same time as the rest of the world," stated one official, underscoring a lack of transparency in the new regime.
The upheaval at OPM is mirrored by tensions within the U.S. Treasury Department. David Lebryk, a top-ranking career official in Treasury, is set to depart following conflicts with Musk's allies. The involvement of Riccardo Biasini, a former engineer at Tesla and a senior adviser at OPM, exemplifies Musk's broader impact across multiple government sectors.
As these changes unfold, concerns mount regarding the implications for federal employees and the integrity of operations within OPM. Many fear that the shift in leadership could compromise longstanding practices and erode trust among career civil servants who have dedicated their careers to public service.