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The new director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has moved to quash speculation over his loyalty to Elon Musk, insisting his focus is solely on delivering Trump’s federal workforce agenda.
“I have zero personal relationship with Elon Musk. I have talked to Elon Musk once on the phone in my life,” said Scott Kupor, sworn in as OPM director earlier this month.
Kupor’s remarks followed internal concerns about the influence of Silicon Valley on Trump administration officials, sparked by a breakdown in the relationship between Trump and Musk, who publicly clashed after Musk finished his time working with the White House.
Trump’s agenda, not Musk’s
Kupor stated, “My job is to do the agenda that the president lays out to the best I can. But I'm not going to do it consistent with someone else's objectives that are inconsistent with what the president wants to do.”
Musk had led the Department of Government Efficiency’s cost-cutting push before stepping down in late May to focus on Tesla and other ventures. Despite initially praising Musk’s efforts, Trump subsequently withdrew his nomination of Musk ally Jared Isaacman to lead NASA.
Reuters previously reported Musk was disappointed by Isaacman’s removal. The president also threatened to cancel federal contracts with Musk’s companies after the billionaire called Trump’s tax-and-spending bill a “disgusting abomination.”
Kupor, formerly a partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, comes from a company that invests in Musk’s ventures, including SpaceX and AI startup Xai. His nomination faced delays, winning committee approval in April but not receiving a full Senate vote until July.
Fallout from Musk’s email edict
Kupor also addressed an initiative introduced by Musk earlier this year that required federal workers to submit weekly summaries of their accomplishments. The directive caused confusion and drew criticism from agency leaders.
Describing the process as “very manual” and “not efficient,” Kupor said, “Something that we should look at and see, like, are we getting the value out of it that at least the people who put it in place thought they were.”
Reuters previously reported that two Trump loyalists were placed at OPM to prevent future surprises like the email mandate, which had reportedly blindsided White House officials.
