Members of the "privacy team" in an office that oversees the hiring of federal workers were fired, which limits how much access the public is granted to government records.
CNN learned about the firings in the Office of Personnel Management after filing a request for records under the Freedom of Information Act related to security clearances for Elon Musk and anyone else involved with the Department of Government Efficiency.
“Good luck with that, they just fired the whole privacy team,” responded an agency email address to the network's FOIA request.
The agency's privacy team ensures data privacy practices meet legal requirements and protect the public's trust, according to the office's website, and complying with records requests is a legal duty that carries penalties enforceable in court.
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"The move to block outside access to government records related to DOGE personnel also runs counter to Musk’s claims that his team is attempting to be as transparent as possible," CNN noted. "While firing the people who respond to requests is perhaps an effective delaying tactic, it does not ultimately relieve the government from its legal obligation to turn over public records."
The firings of the privacy and communications teams come after he moved to clear out the entire media relations department at Twitter, later renamed X, and respond to press inquiries with an automated “poop emoji” response.
A source familiar with his plans for the federal workforce agreed he was using similar tactics, according to CNN.
“They just closed the gate and then determined who actually needed to be paid based on who complained externally and internally," that source said.