The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) occupies a modern concrete and glass building just a few blocks away from the White House. While the agency’s title may conjure up thoughts of routine governmental tasks, it actually plays a vital role as one of the nation’s key human resources organizations. OPM oversees extensive records for around 2.1 million federal employees, alongside countless individuals who have applied for federal jobs. Interestingly, the agency also holds the email addresses of nearly every federal worker.

Recently, tensions have flared as President Trump and Elon Musk have targeted the federal workforce and scrutinized government spending mandates. Much of their attention has been directed towards Musk and his collaborators utilizing government data in ways that are unprecedented and potentially questionable legally. The executive offices located on the fifth floor of OPM’s Washington, D.C. headquarters play a critical role in these developments.

For the career officials at OPM, alarm bells rang during initial meetings with the Trump administration’s incoming team. These sessions are typically designed to pass on essential information from the outgoing administration regarding significant projects, organizational frameworks, and the onboarding of new staff members.

However, Trump’s team exhibited an unusual fixation on OPM’s computer systems, as reported by a current official. During those early discussions, Greg Hogan, now OPM’s chief information officer, spent an excessive amount of time probing into the agency’s computer systems, access protocols, security measures, and the processes for implementing security updates. “I sensed something was off,” the OPM official reflected, having briefed previous presidential transition teams. “All the inquiries were IT-focused.”

Federal employees soon understood the extent of OPM’s transformation on January 28, when they received an email from a new government-wide email system linked to the agency, proposing eight months’ salary in return for their resignation. Following the distribution of these emails, staff at agencies like the USDA and NOAA reported a surge in spam. The buyout proposal is currently paused due to a temporary injunction from a U.S. district judge in response to a lawsuit from labor unions.

This sweeping call for resignations was just a visible indicator of how the new administration is leveraging OPM’s resources to advance Trump’s objectives. Over the past two weeks, administration officials have begun installing Trump appointees in essential technical roles within OPM—positions traditionally reserved for career officials whose expertise spans multiple administrations. Allies of Musk are also working to transform this dynamic across nearly every agency, capitalizing on OPM’s central role in federal hiring practices.

Read more: Inside Elon Musk’s War on Washington

This week, Trump’s political appointees dismissed OPM’s chief financial officer, Erica Roach, a veteran official responsible for overseeing $1 trillion in deposits tied to the Earned Benefits Trust Funds, which cover retirement and health benefits for most federal employees. After being notified of her demotion, Roach decided to resign, according to an OPM official. Neither the White House nor OPM has provided comments on this matter.

Days earlier, the agency’s leading technology officer, Melvin Brown, was reassigned, allowing Hogan, a Trump ally, to step into a role that is generally filled by career civil servants. Acting director Charles Ezell intends to replicate this approach throughout the federal structure. A memo from Ezell to all cabinet departments and agencies on Tuesday could herald a significant shift in how the federal government appoints chief information officers (CIOs).

Currently, CIO roles in most agencies are classified as “career reserved,” meaning they can only be filled by current members of the federal senior executive service. This hiring practice has been maintained by several administrations, reflecting legal requirements that career appointees are essential for preserving impartiality and public trust in government.

However, the new leadership at OPM contends that the CIO positions should not be limited to career government officials, as their decisions have a significant impact on policy. “A modern agency CIO is not just an engineer, scientist, or technocrat,” Ezell articulated in his memo. “Their responsibilities encompass shaping and executing policy while managing budgets, guided by the priorities of their Administration.” Ezell has set a deadline of February 14 for agencies to request OPM to lift the career federal service requirement for the CIO role. This administrative change would enable political appointees in Trump’s administration to consider candidates from outside the career federal service for these positions.

By placing chosen individuals in these critical IT roles across the government, Trump and his allies will gain centralized access to extensive data concerning the federal workforce and government spending. This strategy is intentional, but it raises alarms about the potential disregard for established protections designed to prioritize employee privacy and safeguard against foreign intelligence threats.

Recently, OPM’s upper management has been filled with associates of Musk, including senior advisor Brian Bjelde, a former SpaceX human resources vice president; chief of staff Amanda Scales, who previously worked at Musk’s xAI; and senior advisor Anthony Armstrong, who was involved in Musk’s 2022 Twitter acquisition. Another pivotal figure in pushing for these changes is Andrew Kloster, OPM’s new general counsel, who served in the White House during Trump’s first term and was formerly general counsel for Matt Gaetz.

Some senior career officials at OPM have already found themselves denied access to critical databases. There are rising concerns about political appointees accessing systems, such as the Enterprise Human Resources Integration, without the usual safeguards meant to maintain confidentiality of information. This system houses sensitive data, including pay scales, service durations, Social Security numbers, birth dates, and home addresses.

On January 31, Bjelde informed career supervisors at OPM of a goal to reduce the agency’s workforce by 70%. A current OPM official cautioned that this drastic move could severely undermine the teams responsible for managing healthcare benefits and retirement planning for federal employees.