Starting next week, Elon Musk and his team could have an even clearer path to gaining widespread access to government systems.
The Office of Personnel Management issued a recommendation last week to agency heads to reclassify the jobs of top IT officials to allow for the posts to be filled by political appointees. Agencies have until Friday to report whether they will do so.
Chief information officers can determine the extent of access a White House branch like the U.S. DOGE Service — formerly known as the U.S. Digital Service — has to agencies’ technical systems. Many CIO positions are currently restricted to career civil servants. Changing the job classifications could mean Musk has more politically aligned tech staff at his disposal just as his role expands to having “policy-determining capabilities.”