World
November 28, 2024 15:20
united states - Elon Musk has caused uproar by publicly naming government employees he wants to dismiss, raising concerns about the impact of his actions.
As the American Department of Government Efficiency is yet to be established, future head Elon Musk is already creating anxiety by publicly disclosing names of individuals he intends to terminate. When President-elect Donald Trump revealed that Elon Musk (along with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy) would lead a new department aimed at making the US government more efficient, many government workers feared for their job security. Now, a new fear has arisen: becoming a personal target of the world's richest man and his millions of online followers.
Last week, Musk posted two messages on X revealing titles and names of individuals holding four climate-related government positions, strongly indicating that these positions will soon be eliminated. Each post garnered tens of millions of views and the mentioned individuals faced significant negative attention. At least one of the four women mentioned has already deleted all her social media accounts. While the information Musk shared on X is publicly available through online databases, his posts targeted unknown government employees in roles not directly involving the public.
One of his posts read: 'I don't think the American taxpayer should be paying for the appointment of a 'chief climate diversification officer' (she/her) at the US International Development Finance Corporation.' It included a partial screenshot of the employee in question and her work location.
Musk also targeted the 'chief climate officer' of the Department of Energy, the department that had provided Tesla with a $465 million loan in 2010, a sum that helped the company establish itself as a leader in the electric vehicle industry.
Several federal employees told CNN that they fear their lives will be permanently altered and worry about physical threats as Musk behind the scenes turns bureaucrats into personal targets. Others expressed concerns that being in Musk's crosshairs could lead them to leave their jobs entirely. 'His tactics are designed to terrorize and intimidate federal workers,' said Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, representing more than 800,000 of the 2.3 million civilian federal workers. 'It's meant to make them so fearful that they won't speak out.'
This behavior is not new for Musk, who has a history of singling out individuals he believes have made mistakes. A former federal employee who had been targeted by Musk in the past shared a similar experience. 'It's his way of intimidating people into resigning or sending a signal to all other agencies that you're next,' stated Mary Cummings. She is a professor of engineering and computer science at George Mason University, and had incurred Musk's wrath in the past due to her criticism of Tesla during her tenure at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
CNN reached out to the four targeted officials, but they all declined to comment. X, the online platform, has also not responded to requests for comment.