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Musk’s comments about Boyers OPM office inaccurate, employees say

The outside security check-in of Iron Mountain, a secure government storage and information facility, in the former Boyers mine on Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle

Elon Musk said in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Feb. 11, that the number of retirement forms the federal government can process depends on the speed of a mineshaft elevator in Butler County — something local federal employees say is untrue.

Musk serves as head of the Department of Government Efficiency, created by President Donald Trump via executive order for the purpose of “modernizing federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.” Now, Musk aims to reduce the federal workforce by speeding up the federal retirement process.

During a news conference that included the president, Musk anecdotally referenced Iron Mountain’s facility in Cherry Township, which houses the Office of Personnel Management’s Retirement Operations Center. Musk said the office can process only about 10,000 retirement forms per month with around 1,000 employees using an analog system.

“The limiting factor is the speed at which the mineshaft elevator can move determines how many people can retire from the federal government,” said Musk, also the Tesla and SpaceX CEO. “And, the elevator breaks down sometimes, and then, nobody can retire. Doesn’t that sound crazy?”

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