Protestors outside of the Office of Personnel Management in Washington, D.C., on Sunday.

Protestors outside of the Office of Personnel Management in Washington, D.C., on Sunday. Sean Michael Newhouse/Government Executive

‘Robbery in progress': Small group protests at OPM over Musk allies’ access to federal employee personal data

Several associates of Elon Musk have been put in leadership positions at the Office of Personnel Management as well as the General Services Administration.

Approximately two dozen individuals protested outside of the Office of Personnel Management on Sunday afternoon in Washington, D.C., following a Reuters report that associates of Elon Musk, who have taken leadership positions at the federal government’s human resources agency, “have locked career civil servants out of computer systems that contain the personal data of millions of federal employees.” 

Protestors carried signs that read “fork this” and “get the fork out of my data.” They also chanted slogans with the actual expletive as well as “robbery in progress.”

Stephanie LaTour, who spent more than 30 years as a government lawyer, traveled from Brooklyn to protest and was joined by friends. 

“They now have the records of millions of federal employees — access to, control over — which is really like a sort of a cyber coup,” she said. “And so I really wanted to protest, and I thought ‘You know, I’m just going to drive to DC.’ And I just got in my car and drove down here.” 

Speaking broadly, LaTour argued that President Donald Trump and Musk are attempting to subvert the law to enact their agenda. In contrast, her motivation to work for the federal government was to be “part of the good guys” enforcing the law. 

“Citizens, even those who are not federal employees, should care that the whole federal government is being taken over by unelected people like Elon Musk,” she said. “Who the hell is he? He didn't win any election.”  

Trump tapped Musk, the world’s richest person, to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, which was initially intended to be an advisory entity tasked with cutting federal spending and regulations. 

The executive order establishing DOGE, however, set it up in the White House and narrowed its focus to software modernization. 

Still, Musk appears to remain involved in broader government reforms and recently has been making posts on X, a platform that he owns, criticizing the U.S. Agency for International Development, which Trump is reportedly planning to merge with the State Department

Along with OPM, whose headquarters Musk visited on Jan. 24, several Musk allies have been installed at the General Services Administration, which handles federal real estate and technology. 

Also, federal employees on Jan. 28 received an email offering full pay and benefits through Sept. 30 if they resign by Feb. 6 that resembles one Musk sent to employees at Twitter, which he renamed X, in 2022. 

A lawsuit filed by unnamed federal employees on Jan. 27 alleges that OPM ignored procurement and cybersecurity law to install the system that is believed to have been used to send the deferred resignation email. 

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., in a statement condemned “Musk’s hostile takeover” of OPM. 

“The actions of Co-Presidents Musk and Trump will have disastrous consequences not just for the civil servants whose lives they are upending, but for the American people who will suffer as a result,” he said.