Trump Buyouts Mirror Elon Musk's Twitter Purge
Trump's sweeping orders reek of Musk's management philosophy
The Trump administration today offered federal workers an option of resigning their jobs, sweetened by a severance package of about eight months' pay and benefits. Trump’s plan, the White House says, aims to cut the federal workforce and purge workers, such as DEI administrators. It is a cynical move designed to avoid lawsuits and challenges ahead regarding the rights of civil service workers.
Trump’s plan, expressed in a memo blasted out to federal workers, bears a striking resemblance to one Elon Musk sent to Twitter (X) employees in 2023, before laying off around 80 percent of the company’s workforce. The two memos even have the same title — “Fork in the Road.”
Musk drew attention to the parallels by pinning a tweet to the top of his X page depicting an art piece he says he commissioned titled “A Fork in the Road.”
Contrary to the media depictions of Musk as an eccentric billionaire whose money Trump was happy to take before relegating him to a largely symbolic role, the parallels show that Musk wields significant influence over the administration.
Rather than being the “First Buddy,” as media have dubbed him, Musk is more like the First Bookkeeper, deciding how much to cut and from where.
Musk’s management of his own companies like X provides clues about what to expect from President Trump.
In Walter Isaacson’s biography of Musk, the business mogul lays out what he calls his five step “algorithm” for making organizations more efficient. After his first step, questioning every requirement, Musk’s second step is to remove as many processes as possible. He goes as far as saying that if you didn’t cut so deep that you have to add some parts back later, you didn’t go far enough. Here’s how Musk put it:
“Delete any part or process you can. You may have to add them back later. In fact, if you do not end up adding back at least 10 percent of them, then you didn’t delete enough.”
Sound familiar? As the Trump administration issues one sweeping declaration after another — blanket suspensions of foreign aid, DEI, federal grants, loans, and so on — the DNA of Musk’s management philosophy seems present in practically all of it.
There will be cuts. The question is: how much will be put back?
— Edited by William M. Arkin
I work for large federal employee labor union. We told employees to disregard this ridiculous missive and to not, under any circumstances, resign. They are protected by collective bargaining agreements that cannot be undone at the whim of a lunatic. Moreover, the process for authorizing buyouts comes with regulations and takes time. It has not been done in this case. This is just an attempt to see how many scared employees bite on this putrid bait.
Don't take the bait.
Federal workers matter.
Watch them struggle to implement this outrageousness. They have no idea how.