Paranoia seeps into a federal workforce worried about getting fired and being watched
CNN
As the Trump administration fires thousands of employees across the government, federal workers have another reason to be on edge: the widespread access that Elon Musk’s “government efficiency” team has gained to agency computer systems.
As the Trump administration fires thousands of employees across the government, federal workers have another reason to be on edge: the widespread access that Elon Musk’s “government efficiency” team has gained to agency computer systems. The sudden appearance of DOGE representatives at agencies across Washington and the Trump administration’s search for federal employees it deems disloyal to the president have created a wave of anxiety among feds that their emails, texts or conversations could be monitored. Some government employees are now turning off their phones at home. Others are opting for in-person chats at work rather than over Microsoft Teams. Some have even gone so far as to buy special Faraday bags, designed to block electromagnetic signals, in order to thwart any potential snooping. A few are printing out their employee records, including performance reviews, just in case they are deleted or altered in the federal systems. Their concern is that, with a president who talks openly of retribution against his opponents, even the most mundane of comments might be taken out of context to paint someone as anti-Trump. “I used to carry my work phone around with me everywhere, after hours, on the weekend, in case anything was needed. Now I won’t take it out of my office space,” said one employee at the General Services Administration (GSA), the government procurement agency. CNN spoke to more than a dozen federal employees at more than five federal agencies who conveyed a sense of fear and paranoia, not just about the increased potential of losing their job, but also about being surveilled without their knowledge.
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