Elon Musk is running the Twitter playbook on the federal government
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This week WIRED Start takes a look into how the US Office of Personnel Management is telling federal workers to get in line—or get out.
Elon Musk is only one week into his role in President Donald Trump’s new administration, but the US federal government is already rolling out the Twitter playbook to manage its spending and personnel. Just like Musk did when he took over the social media platform, Trump’s team is attempting to drastically reduce the number of government staffers and ensure those who remain are loyal to the president’s agenda.
Last Tuesday, federal employees received an email that mirrors the “Fork in the Road” missive sent to Twitter (now X) staff shortly after Musk bought the company in 2022. The email asks federal workers to resign by February 6 if they do not wish to return to the office five days a week and commit to a culture of excellence. Those who choose to resign will continue to get pay and benefits until September, according to the memo.
“The federal workforce should be comprised of employees who are reliable, loyal, trustworthy, and who strive for excellence in their daily work. Employees will be subject to enhanced standards of suitability and conduct as we move forward.” - An email which was later published on the US Office of Personnel Management website.
The news comes as Musk’s minions take over the US Office of Personnel Management, which acts as a human resources department for the federal workforce. Elon Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment from WIRED. The Office of Personnel Management also did not respond to a request for comment.
Musk and his advisors, including Trump’s newly appointed AI and crypto czar David Sacks, used a remarkably similar strategy at Twitter. About a week after the acquisition was complete, Musk laid off half the workforce. Sacks helped advise him on which teams and people would be cut.
About two weeks later, remaining employees received an email with the subject line “A Fork in the Road.” Musk said that they would need to be “extremely hardcore” in order to realize his vision for Twitter 2.0. This meant “working long hours at high intensity.” He noted that "only exceptional performance” would receive “a passing grade." Employees were asked to opt into this vision via a web form. Anyone who failed to do so by the following day would receive three months severance, Musk said. Thousands of Twitter employees would later sue, arguing that they were not paid their full severance. Musk ultimately was able to get the suit dismissed.
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3 天前I don’t understand why everyone has an issue about this. They campaigned and talked about DOGE for months before the election and then got elected, aren’t they just keeping their promise to the American people. You will see the benefits of this in the coming months.
tooling and compression molding technician/ maintenance at Tiejin Automotive, Seguin Texas
3 周Any and all journalism should -and needs to be open, and not one sided. Lay all the info out to educate people - not to indoctrinate your audience with you're agenda. That's been a huge problem the last decade, and we need to start holding journalism, and reporting to higher standards!!
Bridging Science and Technology Communications
3 周A picture speaks a thousand words. The Musk ego has superseded Trump. This is the role he envisioned for himself. Eventually, what comes up must come down, like his rockets--happily or not. Scary stuff.
Human first | Your Marketing go-to | The right message matters
3 周Unelected bureaucrat ??
This is the destruction of the US Govt by itself. No need of the Chinese, the Russians or whoever else. Musk destroys the US Govt's capabilities to reduce taxes on the richest. The middle class will still have to pay for new troops being sent to the Middle East, Greenland, etc.