How Federal Employees Are Fighting Back Against Elon Musk

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Karen Ortiz, an administrative judge at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said her ability to send emails was shut off after she sent an agencywide message calling on the commission’s acting chair to resign. Taurat Hossain for The New York Times

How Federal Employees Are Fighting Back Against Elon Musk

Some civil servants are using whatever levers they have to resist the orders of the world’s richest man, both in public and behind closed doors.

By Nicholas Nehamas, Ryan Mac and Nikole Hannah-Jones
Feb. 22, 2025
Updated 9:33 a.m. ET

On Feb. 7, as rumors spread through the ranks of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that Elon Musk’s team had entered their building, federal workers took out their phones.

On high alert, they filmed unidentified young men from the team known as the Department of Government Efficiency being escorted by security through the glass doors of their downtown Washington headquarters. They shouted greetings from afar and tried to snap photos of their faces. Once the men were inside, one agency worker even confronted them in a conference room, demanding to see their credentials, in an incident described to The New York Times. One of the Musk aides used his laptop to block his ID badge from view.

As Mr. Musk and his associates have swept rapidly through government agencies, dismantling programs and seizing access to sensitive databases, some federal employees are pushing back — using whatever levers they have to resist the orders of the world’s richest man, both in public and behind closed doors. … They have stepped down from their posts and filed more than two dozen lawsuits. They have staged protests outside the federal buildings that Mr. Musk’s aides have penetrated and joined federal worker unions in droves. They have sent emails to hundreds of colleagues, blasting the new administration at the risk of their own livelihoods and careers. They have set up encrypted Signal chats, Zoom calls and Instagram accounts to share information and plan future actions.

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During one video meeting with a representative of Mr. Musk’s team, civil servants at the technology arm of the General Services Administration even bombarded an online chat with spoon emojis to express their displeasure at the deferred resignation offer known as the “fork in the road.” (Their bosses responded by removing spoons from the list of searchable emojis permitted in their videoconferencing platform.)

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Kate Conger, Edward Wong and Ruth Igielnik contributed reporting. Kirsten Noyes and Kitty Bennett contributed research.

A correction was made on Feb. 22, 2025: An earlier version of this article misstated the title of Karen Ortiz. She is an administrative judge at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, not an administrative law judge.

When we learn of a mistake, we acknowledge it with a correction. If you spot an error, please let us know at [e-mail] more

Nicholas Nehamas is a Washington correspondent for The Times, focusing on the Trump administration and its efforts to transform the federal government. More about Nicholas Nehamas

Ryan Mac covers corporate accountability across the global technology industry. More about Ryan Mac

Nikole Hannah-Jones is a domestic correspondent for The New York Times Magazine covering racial injustice and civil rights. More about Nikole Hannah-Jones

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1. THAT'S the way to solve a difficult problem...delete the emoji! (LOL) nt