Musk's aides lock federal workers out of key data systems, sources claim

Aides to Elon Musk, appointed to oversee the US government’s human resources agency, are reportedly locking career civil servants out of essential computer systems that house personal data for millions of federal employees, according to two agency officials cited by Reuters in its exclusive material, per Caliber.Az.

Since President Donald Trump took office 11 days ago, he has initiated a sweeping overhaul of the government, replacing hundreds of civil servants with loyalists in his efforts to downsize the bureaucracy.

Musk, tasked with streamlining the 2.2 million-strong federal workforce, has acted quickly to install allies at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The two officials, who spoke anonymously for fear of retaliation, claimed that senior OPM employees have been denied access to key department data systems.

Among the locked-out systems is the Enterprise Human Resources Integration database, which holds sensitive information, including Social Security numbers, birthdates, pay grades, performance evaluations, and home addresses of federal workers.

"We have no visibility into what they are doing with the computer and data systems," one official stated. "It’s creating real concern. There's no oversight, and it has significant cybersecurity implications."

While affected employees can still access email, they are no longer able to view critical datasets that cover the federal workforce in detail.

Representatives from Musk’s team, OPM, and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

OPM has circulated memos that deviate from the usual formal language, encouraging employees to consider taking buyout offers or a vacation to a “dream destination.”

Don Moynihan, a professor at the University of Michigan's Ford School of Public Policy, expressed concerns about the lack of congressional oversight and what these actions signal about Trump and Musk’s approach to the federal bureaucracy. “It makes it much harder for anyone outside Musk’s inner circle at OPM to know what’s going on,” he said.

A team of Musk associates took control of OPM on January 20, the day Trump assumed office, and has since set up beds on the fifth floor of the agency’s headquarters, where the director’s office is located. The move, according to one OPM employee, was made so the team can work around the clock, similar to Musk’s previous move at X (formerly Twitter) when he introduced beds for employees.

“It feels like a hostile takeover,” the employee remarked.

By Tamilla Hasanova