News: Elon Musk, DOGE order massive layoffs at Office of Personnel Management

Economy & Policy

Elon Musk, DOGE order massive layoffs at Office of Personnel Management

The move follows Trump-era policies reducing government headcount, with the controversial deferred resignation option raising legal concerns.
Elon Musk, DOGE order massive layoffs at Office of Personnel Management
 

Is Musk revolutionising government efficiency or engineering one of the biggest blunders involving federal government workers in modern history?

 

After HR leaders from the Trump administration paved the way for federal job cuts in January, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is now in the cross-hairs of Elon Musk.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an advisory body led by Musk, is targeting the reduction of the workforce at the OPM – the agency that serves as the HR department of the US federal government.

Brian Bjelde, a senior official at DOGE, reportedly warned OPM leaders of upcoming job cuts that could be in the range of 30% to 70% of the workforce.

The OPM employs 3,000 federal employees. Most projects at the agency are currently on hold until leaders receive clarity on which roles will be cut.

The news of job cuts at the OPM follows earlier moves by the Trump administration to reduce government headcount by:

  • Converting the status of career civil servants to political appointees
  • Ordering a hiring freeze across all federal agencies requiring civilian workers
  • Firing workers on a probationary status
  • Forcing all government workers to return to working in the office five days a week
  • Offering the so-called deferred resignation programme

By far, the most hotly contested decision is the offer of the deferred resignation option, in which government workers are allowed to remain on the payroll until the end of September even after they resign by 6 February.

Many of these initiatives outlined above were rolled out to some two million government workers via directives coursed through the OPM. In a twist of irony, the agency is facing the same threat of layoffs.

Reports indicate how OPM staff are shocked to learn of their impending staff reduction.

Also Read: DOGE: Trump picks Musk to lead crackdown on government bureaucracy

Protests against Musk’s DOGE

The massive job cuts in the government have been met with protests, with critics echoing messages such as, “Elon, Elon, have you heard? You’re a nasty, fascist nerd,” at demonstrations.

Just days prior, Musk set his sights on aid agency USAID, claiming on X (formerly Twitter) that, “USAID is a criminal organisation. Time for it to die.”

US President Donald Trump, however, maintained Musk had his blessing.

“Elon can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval, and we’ll give him the approval where appropriate,” Trump said.

Also Read: Trump offers exit package to federal workers

Concerns about the deferred resignation programme

New York Attorney General Letitia James has cautioned federal government workers not to fall for Musk and the Trump administration’s pronouncements and to work closely with unions, instead.

“Attacking our federal workforce will only cause more chaos and confusion for Americans, and will diminish the quality of services our government provides,” James said, as reported by ABC News.

“We will continue to fight back against any attempt to jeopardise the federal support and programs our states’ residents rely on.”

Employment lawyers have raised concerns over the legitimacy of the deferred resignation programme, pointing out how Congress and not the White House is responsible for the pay of federal employees.

Max Alonzo of the labour union, National Federation of Federal Employees, which advocates for 110,000 federal workers, has advised members not to take the bait.

“Absolutely do not resign. There is nothing that says that the day that you resign, that they can’t just let you go,” Alonzo said.

“They don’t have to pay you – there’s nothing that says they have to pay you until September 30. This is nothing that has been done before. This is not in our regulations. There’s no regs about it. We’re not even sure if it’s actually legal. So, yeah, absolutely do not resign.”

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Topics: Economy & Policy, #Layoffs

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