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Musk’s Team Blocks Civil Servants from Federal Employee Data Systems Amid Government Overhaul

FILE PHOTO: Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Aides to Elon Musk, who are leading a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. government’s human resources agency, have allegedly restricted career civil servants from accessing key computer systems containing sensitive data on millions of federal employees, according to two agency officials.

Since taking office 11 days ago, President Donald Trump has pushed an aggressive restructuring of the federal government, dismissing or sidelining hundreds of civil servants to streamline bureaucracy and install more loyalists.

Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and owner of X, has been tasked with reshaping the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) as part of efforts to shrink the 2.2 million-strong civilian workforce. According to officials speaking anonymously out of fear of retaliation, some senior career employees at OPM have had their access revoked from critical data systems.

Among the restricted systems is the Enterprise Human Resources Integration database, which contains Social Security numbers, birth dates, home addresses, pay grades, performance appraisals, and length of service for government employees.

“We have no visibility into what they are doing with the computer and data systems,” one official said. “That is creating great concern. There is no oversight. It creates real cybersecurity and hacking implications.”

While affected officials can still access basic functions like email, they are now locked out of extensive workforce datasets. Neither Musk, OPM, the White House, nor representatives from the restructuring team have responded to requests for comment.

Adding to the unusual nature of the transition, OPM has circulated memos encouraging civil servants to accept buyout offers, suggesting they use the funds for a “dream destination” vacation—a departure from the agency’s traditionally formal communications.

Don Moynihan, a professor at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy, warned that the situation raises serious concerns about congressional oversight and the administration’s broader approach to federal workforce management.

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