Office of Personnel Management
One of the ways in which DOGE surprised everybody was how it turned a relatively sleepy agency into a weapon against the entire government bureaucracy. Created by law in 1978, OPM’s main role before now was to standardize government policies around personnel and to offer shared services for human capital like the federal health plans. It also tracks all the paperwork around hiring, promotions, changes and retirement. And so, for most federal staff, their main interactions with OPM were receiving paperwork they were hired, fired or retired; or picking a health plan; or looking at the rules around various practices. But, all the other aspects of human resources were handled by their own agencies. Federal staff are hired to their specific agencies, their performance rankings are defined by their agency, they’re promoted by their agencies, they’re paid by their agencies, they follow the HR policies of their agencies. OPM provides the guidance, but it’s the agencies that implement it.
This is why OPM’s turn towards the dark side has been so confounding. Very early on, DOGE concentrated a large number of staff within OPM to capture control of the centralized databases and install a new email server to send/receive messages from every federal worker. The acting director was forced out and replaced by Charles Ezell, who then let DOGE wall off an area and keep out permanent agency staff. DOGE also brought in a slew of HR executives from startups who seemingly expected the agency to work for the entire federal government in the same way that HR operates within a single company. And so, they started acting like OPM had more centralized authority: ordering workers to the “five things” email; blasting commands to human capital officers at other agencies; asking for lists of workers so they could command agencies to fire probationary workers and short-cut established procedures for reductions in force. OPM used to be deliberative and formal with its rulemaking - the new OPM was fond of sending out memos to all agencies on Wednesdays demanding a response by Friday. None of this was normal; some of it was probably illegal. And the breach in trust has been irrevocable.
Positions
click for sources; full legend
| Name | Positions |
|---|---|
| Anthony Armstrong |
Sources
|
| Riccardo Biasini |
Sources
|
| Brian Bjelde |
Sources
|
| Akash Bobba |
Sources
OPM
1/20-7/18
[as OPM-03]
appointed
Expert
(NTE 2025-07-18, ED-00, excepted, volunteer)
«Testimony reports plan to convert position to permanent»
OPM
8/08
[as OPM-03]
converted to permanent position
(volunteer)
«Court testimony reports conversion to permanent, restored access»
SBA
date unknown
likely detailed
Senior Advisor
«identified by agency FOIA as having been at the agency, guessing detailed»
|
| Clayton Cromer |
Sources
|
| Charles Ezell |
Sources
1/20-7/09
promoted to
Acting Director
«Replaced by Scott Kupor’s appointment»
7/09-10/XX
demoted to
Senior Advisor
Left govt 10/XX
|
| Greg Hogan |
Sources
OPM
1/20-1/20
appointed
Senior Advisor to the Director for Technology and Delivery
(ES-00, $195,200)
«ended by promotion to CIO»
1/20-2/11
promoted to
Acting Chief Information Officer
(ES-00, $195,200)
«testified he started as Senior Advisor but was made Acting CIO same day. Made permanent CIO on 2/11»
2/11-c.9/02
promoted to
Chief Information Officer
(ES-00, $195,200)
Left govt c.9/02
|
| Gavin Kliger |
Sources
OPM
1/20-2/18
[as OPM-05]
appointed
Senior Advisor to the Director for Information Technology
(NTE 2025-05-20, GS-15, excepted, $195,200)
«hired at maximum salary for GS federal employee in DC»
USAID
1/27
detail
USDA
c.2/01
detail
CFPB
2/07-5/08
detail
OPM
2/18
[as OPM-05]
converted to permanent position
Senior Advisor to the Director for Information Technology
(GS-15, excepted, $195,200)
IRS
2/19-4/17
detail
(NTE 2025-06-19)
Global Media
c.3/01
[as OPM-05]
detail
«detail in court doc, date from Kliger spotted at VOA around start of March»
FTC
c.3/28
likely detailed
DHS
date unknown
likely detailed
|
| Noah Peters |
Source
OPM
1/20
appointed
Senior Advisor
(GS-15, excepted, $167,603 - $195,200)
«Salary range for GS-15 in DC»
|
| Amanda Scales |
Sources
3/28-c.3/29
demoted to
Senior Advisor
(ES-00)
«Her LinkedIn profile says she left OPM in March. Assuming it followed her demotion/replacement»
Left govt c.3/29
|
| James Sullivan |
Sources
|
| Joanna Wischer |
Source
OPM
1/20
appointed
Senior Advisor to the Director
(GS-15, excepted, $167,603 - $195,200)
«Salary range for GS-15 in DC; LinkedIn says she is working for OMB “Made in America” initiative since March 2025»
|
| Edward Coristine |
Source
GSA
1/24
likely detailed
«no MOU to confirm and SF-50 is for GSA, but I think he was detailed from GSA to OPM on this date based on appointment affadavit»
|
| Nikhil Rajpal |
Sources
|
| OPM-18 |
c.1/24
unknown start type
«Start date guessed from system access»
|
| Justin Monroe |
Sources
|
| Christopher Stanley |
Sources
|
| Austin Raynor |
Source
OPM
1/30
appointed
Senior Advisor
(NTE 2025-07-22, GS-15, excepted, $167,603 - $195,200)
«Salary range for GS-15 in DC»
|
| Jacob Altik |
Sources
|
| OPM-09 |
Source
c.1/31-6/XX
unknown start type
«Start date guessed from system access. No longer in govt on 6/27»
|
| OPM-10 |
Source
c.1/31
unknown start type
«Start date guessed from system access»
|
| OPM-13 |
Source
c.1/31-6/XX
unknown start type
«Start date guessed from system access. No longer in govt on 6/27»
|
| OPM-17 |
Source
c.1/31-6/XX
unknown start type
«Start date guessed from system access. No longer in govt 6/27»
|
| Stephen Duarte |
Source
|
| Christina Hanna |
Source
|
| Bryanne-Michelle Mlodzianowski |
Source
|
| Chris Young |
Source
|
| OPM-11 |
Source
c.2/07-6/XX
unknown start type
«Start date guessed from system access. No longer in govt on 6/27»
|
| OPM-12 |
Source
c.2/07-6/XX
unknown start type
«Start date guessed from system access. No longer in govt on 6/27»
|
| OPM-15 |
Source
c.2/07-6/XX
unknown start type
«Start date guessed from system access. No longer in govt on 6/27»
|
| Joe Gebbia |
Source
|
| Tarak Makecha |
Sources
Global Media
c.3/01
likely detailed
«Date unknown, but assuming with Kliger who was at USAGM in early March»
|
| Mike Gonzalez |
Source
Left govt 6/XX
|
| Allan Mangaser |
|
| Yat Choi |
Source
|
| Scott Kupor |
Source
|
| Andrew Vilcsak |
Source
OPM
date unknown
consultant
«Named as working alongside Airbnb alumni at OPM.»
|
Systems
click for sources; full legend
| System | Access |
|---|---|
| website |
Source
|
| Databricks |
Source
|
| EHRI |
Sources
|
| github |
Source
|
| GWES |
Source
Government-Wide Email System (created by DOGE)
A new system developed by DOGE for sending out email to all federal employees and collecting responses. It was most famously used for the Fork in The Road email.
|
| STAMP |
Source
|
| USA Performance |
Sources
|
| USA Staffing |
Sources
|
Events
click for sources; full legend
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| c.1/16 OPM |
Source
Action:
Noah Peters starts drafting two memos for OPM. One concerns temporary authorities for Schedule C and the other is on how to handle both probationary employees and admininstrative leave. These are to be issued on January 20th.
(fuzz: Date is approximate in deposition)
|
| c.1/16 OPM |
Source
Action:
According to his later sworn testimony, Noah Peters meets with Keenan Kmiec to outline his plan on how to use administrative leave to sideline federal employees from being able to do their work and counter or monitor DOGE’s activities at their agencies.
(fuzz: Date is approximate in deposition)
|
| c.1/16 OPM |
Source
Action:
Noah Peters receives a formal job offer to work at OPM. He describes it in a court disposition as being very general and vague.
(fuzz: Date is approximate in deposition)
|
| 1/17 OPM |
Source
Action:
Noah Peters recalls that he met with Amanda Scales and Brian Bjelde on this day to plan for their upcoming first day at OPM.
|
| 1/20 OPM |
Source
Directory:
Multiple DOGE staff start working at OPM and are listed as part of the Office of the Director.
|
| 1/20 OPM |
Source
Disruption:
Career IT staff in the Office of the CIO at OPM report that their database access was completely revoked by DOGE staff working at the agency.
|
| 1/20 OPM |
Source
Sighting:
The DOGE team moves into a secure office within OPM, installing sofa beds and armed security to prevent other staff from entry.
|
| 1/20 OPM |
Source
Access:
IT staff at OPM are pulled into a “911-esque call” requesting that “a political team” of 6 individuals must be given access to OPM systems. These include Charles Ezell, Greg Hogan, and Amanda Scales, as well as unidentified employees OPM-03 (Akash Bobba), OPM-05 (Gavin Kliger) and OPM-07 (Brian Bjelde). These DOGE staffers are granted administrative access to USAJOBS, USA Staffing, and USA Performance systems.
|
| 1/20 OPM |
Source
Disruption:
Acting OPM Director Charles Ezell replaces existing CIO Melvin Brown with DOGE ally Greg Hogan, who will serve as the Acting CIO.
|
| 1/20 DOGE, OMB, OPM | |
| 1/23 OPM |
Source
Official:
OPM sends out a first test email to all federal staff from its new Government-Wide Email System (GWES).
|
| 1/24 OPM |
Source
Onboard:
Jacob Altik and Nikhil Rajpal start working at OPM
|
| 1/26 OPM |
Source
Official:
OPM sends a second test email from its new Government-Wide Email System (GWES) to all government employees.
|
| 1/27 OPM |
Source
Access:
Charles Ezell sends an email to OPM IT staff stating that OPM-02 (Riccardo Biasini), OPM-04 (Edward Coristine), and OPM-06 (Nikhil Rajpal) “urgently” need access to several sensitive systems within the agency.
|
| 1/27 OPM |
Source
Legal:
Two anonymous federal employees file a class action lawsuit against OPM for launching the new email system without conducting a Privacy Impact Assessment for the new system
|
| 1/27 OPM |
Source
Disruption:
A member of the OPM union posts a Reddit message reportedly from an OPM employee which states that the email server is a piece of outside equipment and the its goal is to generate lists of all govt employees in order to send massive firing notices later.
|
| 1/28 OPM |
Source
Onboard:
Justin Monroe and Christopher Stanley start working at OPM as a volunteers with the job title of Expert.
|
| 1/28 OPM |
Source
Access:
OPM grants OPM-02 (Riccardo Biasini), OPM-04 (Edward Coristine), and OPM-06 (Nikhil Rajpal) full administrative access to the systems USAJOBS, USA Staffing, USA Performance, eOPF, and EHRI. This access included “[c]ode read and write permissions.”
|
| 1/28 OPM |
Source
Directory:
Wired Magazine provides an early listing of which Musk-affiliated DOGE staff now have positions at OPM.
(fuzz: didn’t name Coristine or Bobba bc of their ages, but later confirmed as them)
|
| 1/28 OPM |
Source
Official:
OPM sends out the “Fork in the Road” email to all federal employees offering them a chance to resign, in exchange for six month of administrative leave and protection from termination.
|
| 1/30 OPM |
Source
Onboard:
Austin Raynor and Chris Young start working at OPM.
|
| 1/31 OPM |
Source
Disruption:
Federal employees at OPM report they are locked out of access to key systems by DOGE and OPM leadership.
|
| February 2025 | |
| 2/XX OPM |
Source
Disruption:
Unnamed engineers working for DOGE within OPM reportedly used Meta’s Llama AI model running locally on OPM servers to analyze responses to the “Fork in the Road” resignation offer.
|
| 2/03 OPM |
Source
Onboard:
Several more DOGE staffers (Stephen Duarte, Christina Hanna, Bryanne-Michelle Mlodzianowski) start working at OPM. All of them come from HR backgrounds in Musk-affiliated companies.
|
| 2/03 OPM |
Report:
Brian Bjelde holds a meeting with senior staff at OPM, directing them to prepare plans to eliminate 70% of the agency’s workforce at some unspecified point in the future. They are also told to identify 30% of staff that could be eliminated in the near term.
|
| 2/05 OPM |
Source
Legal:
OPM attests the Government-Wide Email System runs only on agency systems (and is not hosted in an external provider, which would be a violation of federal IT policy).
|
| 2/05 OPM |
Source
Official:
OPM issues a Privacy Impact Assessment for its Government-Wide Email System (GWES) which states responses to its messages are voluntary, brief and do not include identifying information from federal staffers.
|
| 2/06 OPM |
Source
Access:
Career IT staff in the Office of the CIO at OPM have their database access restored by order of the CIO Greg Hogan. It is unclear who ordered the original revocation of access and what changes have happened in the interim.
|
| 2/06 OPM |
Source
Legal:
The judge in Jane Does 1-2 v. Office of Personnel Management (D.D.C.) dismisses the motion for a temporary restraining order against the OPM email system since there is now a Privacy Impact Assessment available for it.
|
| 2/06 OPM |
Source
Legal:
DOGE member and lawyer Jacob Altik joins the legal defense team for the administration in Jane Does 1-2 v. Office of Personnel Management (D.D.C.) without revealing he is an DOGE staffer who is working for OPM.
|
| 2/12 OPM |
Source
Directory:
In a FOIA request, Democracy Forward names DOGE staff known to be at OPM at that time.
Austin Raynor, Brian Bjelde, Bryanne-Michelle Mlodzianowski, Christina Hanna, Joanna Wischer, Noah Peters, Riccardo Biasini, Stephen Duarte
|
| 2/13 OPM, USDA |
Source
Interagency:
Representing DOGE and OPM, Noah Peters finalizes mass layoffs at the USDA just before Secretary Rollins is to be sworn in that evening. When asked later by Congress about the layoffs, she deflects and says it happened before she started.
|
| 2/18 OPM |
Source
Onboard:
Former AirBnb executive Joe Gebbia starts working at OPM as a volunteer with the job title of Expert.
|
| 2/18 OPM |
Source
Disruption:
A CNN reporter shares that his FOIA request to OPM was replied to with the message “they just fired the whole privacy team.”
|
| 2/24 OPM |
Source
Official:
After Elon Musk threatens on X that employees must complete a list of 5 accomplishments every week and send it to OPM or risk termination, OPM hastily sends out an email to all federal staff requesting that list (without the threat) to every government employee. Widespread confusion occurs at many agencies about the legality and wisdom of this exercise.
|
| 2/25 OPM |
Source
Report:
DOGE engineer Ricardo Biasini is reported to be working on updating an “AutoRIF” software package sourced from the Department of Defense that can be used to automate Reduction-in-Force (RIF) processes at federal agencies.
|
| c.2/26 GSA, OPM |
Source
Interagency:
During a call of human capital officers led by OPM, a representative for the GSA announces they are working on a “new federal daily check-in tool.” A test email was sent out on the same day. They announce plans to debut the tool by the first week in March.
(fuzz: Date is just given as “Late February”)
|
| 2/27 OPM |
Source
Official:
Joe Gebbia announces on his social media account that he will be working on a project at OPM to modernize retirement processing and move it away from paper records currently stored at a cave in Pennsylvania.
|
| 2/28 OPM |
Source
Official:
OPM quietly amends the Privacy Impact Assessment for its Government-Wide Email System (GWES) to remove declarations that responses are voluntary. This is after it had to concede that federal staff did not have to reply to the Five Things email because of the PIA.
|
| 2/28 OPM |
Source
Legal:
Judge Alsup ruling in AFL-CIO vs. OPM (N.D. Cal.) issues a temporary restraining order that termination of probationary workers at 6 agencies was unlawful and that they should be restored to work immediately.
|
| March 2025 | |
| 3/01 OPM |
Source
Official:
All government employees receive a second email telling them they must list their accomplishments every Monday by 11:59pm. This does not contain a threat of termination, but it is also no longer reported as an optional exercise. Staff working on confidential or classified activities are supposed to reply to the email but redact their work.
|
| 3/01 DHS, DOL, Education, OPM, SSA, Treasury |
Source
Report:
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) starts an audit of how DOGE has handled data at several agencies.
|
| 3/04 OPM |
Source
Official:
In response to recent court rulings that determined that OPM exceeded its authority, OPM quietly revises its initial memo that required all federal agencies to send lists of probationary employees to the agency. It also downplays suggestions that the lists should be used for deciding staffing levels.
|
| 3/10 OPM |
Source
Oversight:
The OPM Inspector General responds to questions from Democrats in Congress by stating his office will start investigating DOGE’s email server and its IT practices at the agency.
|
| 3/18 OPM |
Source
Legal:
A lawyer for the plaintiffs accuses the Department of Justice of deliberately misrepresenting Jacob Altik’s participation in the defense “perhaps to preserve the illusion that OPM’s counsel were ignorant of what OPM was doing with the Government-Wide Email System, or perhaps to obscure the role of DOGE and the White House in this case.”
|
| 3/20 OPM |
Official:
President Trump issues an executive order that orders OPM to redefine regulations so that it would give them more power to directly terminate employees at other agencies.
|
| 3/24 OPM |
Source
Legal:
Ruling in American Federation of Teachers et al v. Bessent et al, Judge Boardman issues a preliminary injunction against access by DOGE staff to internal systems at OPM by DOGE. However, he still allows access for DOGE-affiliated leadership at the agency including Charles Ezell, Amanda Scales and Greg Hogan.
|
| 3/28 OPM |
Source
Action:
For reasons that aren’t entirely clear, Amanda Scales is replaced as the Chief of Staff at OPM by James Sullivan. Amanda changes to a Senior Advisor position at the agency.
(fuzz: Amanda Scales reports on her LinkedIn that she left DOGE in March, so this might have been the cause)
|
| April 2025 | |
| 4/03 OPM |
Source
Oversight:
Scott Kupor, the nominee to lead OPM, assured senators in a confirmation hearing that he believes strongly in data privacy and respecting the humanity and dignity of the federal workforce.
|
| 4/07 Education, OPM, Treasury |
Source
Legal:
In a 2-1 vote, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a stay against DOGE data access at the Treasury, OPM and Department of Education imposed in the case American Federation of Teachers v. Bessent et al.
|
| 4/10 AmeriCorps, OMB, OPM |
Source
Interagency:
AmeriCorps’ acting director submits a plan to the OPM and OMB proposing a 50% cut in the agency workforce.
|
| 4/11 OPM |
Source
Legal:
The plaintiffs in AFGE, AFL-CIO, et. al vs. OPM file a motion asking for the testimony of Noah Peters to be disregarded because they argue it is misleading and possibly fabricated in certain parts.
|
| 4/16 CFPB, OPM, USAID |
Source
Interagency:
Noah Peters at OPM denies the CFPB request made by Adam Martinez as well as Jeremy Lewin and Gavin Kliger to conduct an “emergency” RIF at the CFPB which would only give employees 30 days before their termination.
|
| May 2025 | |
| 5/09 OPM |
Source
Disruption:
OPM is reportedly poised to launch a rebranded version of the formerly-named AutoRIF software for automating the process of designating staff for mass layoffs. It was modernized and given a web interface by DOGE engineer Riccardo Biasini.
|
| 5/09 OPM |
Source
Official:
OPM reports it will rolling out a Online Retirement Application (ORA) system which replaces the paper-based system for federal departments served by the National Finance Center and Interior Business Center. This was a program originally started in the Biden Administration that is being accelerated without pilot programs.
|
| 5/30 OPM |
Source
Legal:
The judge in AFL-CIO vs. OPM examines Greg Hogan on the stand and asks if he had followed the principle of least privilege in providing system access to DOGE. The judge’s questions indicated that she seemed to be leaning towards a issuing a preliminary injunction against DOGE’s “chaotic” access to systems at OPM.
|
| June 2025 | |
| 6/09 OPM |
Source
Legal:
Judge Cote, presiding over AFGE v. OPM, grants a preliminary injunction against DOGE having access to systems at OPM and orders them to destroy any information they have copied. She finds that OPM failed to follow proper procedures for granting access.
|
| 6/24 OPM |
Source
Directory:
In a status report for AFGE, AFL-CIO v. OPM, the government reports that multiple DOGE staff at OPM have left the government by this date. Of course, their actual departure dates might be earlier, but it’s a direct acknowledgment of multiple staff departures in the preceding months.
|
| July 2025 | |
| 7/09 OPM |
Source
Onboard:
Scott Kupor is confirmed by the Senate to be the new Director of OPM, replacing Charles Ezell who had been serving in an acting capacity since January 20th.
|
| 7/16 OPM |
Source
Offboard:
OPM-03 (Akash Bobba) reaches the Not-To-Exceed (NTE) date for the special government employee status and is removed from access at the agency.
|
| 7/21 OPM |
Source
Disruption:
Scott Kupor states that he expects to eliminate roughly 1000 positions at OPM (or about a third of its staff) by the end of the year.
|
| August 2025 | |
| 8/04 OPM |
Source
Directory:
In a report about DOGE’s continued work on OPM’s Online Retirement Application (ORA) continuing to move ahead, Politico identifies DOGE staff that are working on the project under Joe Gebbia.
|
| 8/06 OPM |
Source
Disruption:
OPM announces the end of the requirement that all federal workers must send in a weekly “Five Things” email describing their work the prior work. OPM director Scott Kupor announced the change in a meeting with all human capital officials across the government.
|
| 8/08 OPM |
Source
Onboard:
Special government employee OPM-03 (Akash Bobba) is converted to a permanent position within the agency, still unpaid.
(fuzz: Date from report on system access restoration)
|
| 8/12 Education, IRS, OPM, Treasury |
Source
Legal:
Citing a Supreme Court shadow docket ruling as precedent, a DC Appeals Court overturned a stay from February and ordered that DOGE should be allowed to access sensitive data at the Treasury Department, OPM and Department of Education.
|
| September 2025 | |
| c.9/02 OPM |
Source
Offboard:
Greg Hogan has reportedly departed from his role as Chief Information Officer at OPM. He had held it from the first day of the Trump Administration when the acting CIO was demoted by Charles Ezell.
|
| 9/03 OPM |
Source
Report:
In an interview with Axios, Scott Kupor claims that he was not involved with any of DOGE’s actions at OPM before he was appointed (indeed, he says he was locked out of the agency until he was appointed). Despite being an employee of Andreesen Horowitz, he states only March Andreesen and Ben Horowitz were in communication with Elon Musk.
|
| 9/12 OPM |
Source
Legal:
Ruling in AFGE, AFL-CIO v. OPM, Judge William Alsup finds that OPM’s mass firing of probationary employees was illegal. However, he does not order that fired employees should be reinstated to their positions, since it has been months since the action and the Supreme Court would be likely to overrule. Instead, he has enjoined OPM from conducting similar actions in the future and ordered them to amend the records to note that employees were not terminated due to performance reasons (as the government falsely claimed in many dismissal letters).
|
| 9/25 DOGE, GSA, OPM, SSA |
Source
Oversight:
The ranking Democratic member of the Senate Comittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs releases a report “Unchecked and Unaccountable” detailing DOGE security transgressions at several agencies, including poor security for the NUMIDENT data at SSA and activities within GSA and OPM
|