Aides to Elon Musk, who have been put in charge of the US government’s human resources agency, have reportedly blocked career civil servants from accessing computer systems containing the personal details of millions of federal employees, according to sources cited by Reuters.
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Since taking office just 11 days ago, President Donald Trump has launched an extensive revamp of the government, dismissing hundreds of civil servants to reduce bureaucracy.
Musk, tasked by Trump with cutting down the civilian government workforce, which consists of 2.2 million employees, has wasted no time in appointing allies to key positions within the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
Two officials, who spoke to Reuters anonymously due to fear of retaliation, revealed that some senior career employees at OPM have had their access revoked to certain data systems. These include the Enterprise Human Resources Integration database, which holds sensitive information such as dates of birth, Social Security numbers, home addresses, pay grades, appraisals, and length of service of government workers.
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“We have no visibility into what they are doing with the computer and data systems,” one official told Reuters.
“That is creating great concern. There is no oversight. It creates real cybersecurity and hacking implications,” they added.
While affected officials can still access functions such as email, they are now unable to view the extensive datasets covering all aspects of the federal workforce.
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‘It feels like a hostile takeover’
A team comprising current and former Musk employees took charge of OPM on 20th January, the day of Trump’s inauguration. One OPM employee told Reuters that sofa beds have been set up on the fifth floor of the agency’s headquarters, which houses the director’s office and requires either a security badge or an escort for access. The beds were installed so the team could work around the clock, one employee said. “It feels like a hostile takeover,” the employee told Reuters.
(With inputs from agencies)