Former Palantir and Elon Musk Associates Are Taking Over Key Government IT Roles

The Trump administration is replacing some of the nation's top tech officials with Silicon Valley talent tied to Elon Musk and companies associated with Peter Thiel. This could make it easier for Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) engineers to gain access to sensitive government systems, sources and experts say. Over the last few weeks, several Musk-aligned tech leaders have been installed as the chief information officers, or CIOs, of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and the Department of Energy (DOE). CIOs manage an agency's information technology and oversee access to sensitive databases and systems, including classified ones. "Federal agency CIOs have authority over all agency asset management, which includes software used to monitor civil servant laptops and phones," a former Biden official with firsthand knowledge of a CIO's capabilities tells WIRED.