Musk Affiliates Reportedly Seize Control of Crucial Government Agency
A vital yet understated federal agency that issued a widespread “deferred resignation” invitation to federal workers on Tuesday is now allegedly under the influence of individuals linked to Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest individual and an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump.
According to unnamed sources, Wired revealed on Tuesday that “the top echelons of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)—the government’s central human resources agency—are now dominated by individuals connected to Musk and the broader tech sector.” Musk is said to have visited the OPM headquarters just last week.
Wired referred to these individuals as “Musk lackeys” and chose not to disclose the names of some top new OPM officials due to their young age. One of these officials “was supposed to begin college last autumn,” while another “is a 21-year-old whose digital CV highlights his tenure at Palantir, the government contracting and analytics company co-established by billionaire Peter Thiel.”
Named officials include Riccardo Biasini, an ex-Tesla engineer who now serves as a senior advisor to the OPM director, and Amanda Scales, formerly of Musk’s AI company xAI. Scales has been appointed as the chief of staff at OPM, currently under the interim leadership of Charles Ezell.
An OPM employee, in a now-removed Reddit post, described Ezell as “the friendliest ‘yes man’ you’ll ever encounter.”
“I have been with OPM for nearly ten years and a federal worker for close to two decades. The current situation is unlike anything I have ever seen. Essentially, we are witnessing a forceful takeover of the federal civil service,” the post explained. “They sidelined all the senior nonpolitical civil servants who resisted Trump’s demands until they settled on Chuck [Ezell].”
“The ‘Fork in the Road’ email bore the same title as one Elon Musk dispatched to Twitter employees when he acquired the company, commanding them to adopt an ‘extremely hardcore’ work ethic or accept the resignation deal.”
The significant infiltration of OPM by Musk’s allies further solidifies the billionaire’s sway within the Trump administration, which has boldly and illegally sought to cleanse the federal workforce and manipulate congressionally approved funds.
The American Prospect‘s David Dayen noted on Wednesday that the email sent by OPM to federal employees earlier in the week, which offered full pay and benefits through September to those who chose to resign, was “distinctly a Musk-driven initiative.”
Indeed, the ‘Fork in the Road’ email was identical to one Musk had previously sent to Twitter staff as he took the helm, urging them to either commit to being ‘extremely hardcore’ or accept the resignation option,” Dayen reported. “It even demanded employees to confirm their choice in response, just as the Twitter directive had.”
“This situation is arguably legally questionable, possibly deceptive, unlikely to effectively cut costs, could potentially increase expenditures, and is unquestionably distressing for the two million employees now subjected to a demoralizing campaign orchestrated for the amusement of the world’s richest man,” Dayen concluded.
