back to article The curious story of Uncle Sam's HR dept, a hastily set up email server, and fears of another cyber disaster

Two anonymous US government employees have sued Uncle Sam's HR department – the Office of Personnel Management – claiming the Trump administration's rapid roll out of a new federal email system broke the law. The pair's complaint [PDF], filed Monday in a Washington DC district court, claims an effort to establish a single …

  1. Winkypop Silver badge
    WTF?

    Grim outlook

    Hi,

    We’re from the government.

    That job of yours….

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Grim outlook

      no, no, no.

      Hi,

      We're from the governemtn.

      You aren't.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Grim outlook

      You need to stay up to date, it is Grim New Outlook...

      1. Dimmer Silver badge

        Re: Grim outlook

        Another Outlook patch? well crud.

    3. DS999 Silver badge

      It is against the law for the Trump administration

      To fire career staff without cause. And that "cause" can't be "you won't pledge loyalty to Trump, or we think you might be too woke for us".

      That's the whole reason behind the career / political appointee split. The latter can be replaced, the former cannot. That was instituted because in the bad old days jobs were handed out as favors to donors - you can see the remaining bits of that in stuff like ambassador appointments, which other than for a small number of countries where the position matters has long continued to be a handout to donors etc.

      There is a lot of speculation that the Trump administration will simply ignore court orders that say they can't fire these people. There was plenty of warning that Project 2025 was the plan all along despite Trump's denials, and that he wanted to rule as a dictator despite the claims to the contrary from those supporting him who knew that saying that out loud would guarantee he lost in a landslide.

      Instead people decided to vote based on the price of eggs, and now they are getting Project 2025 and the dictator, and the price of eggs is even higher with zero plan to do anything about it because Trump never cared about anyone but the billionaire donor class. Hopefully he has a massive Big Mac induced stroke tomorrow and the chaos and infighting over who gets to pull the levers on the JD Vance bot will cause the whole MAGA movement to fall apart. That's pretty much the only hope to preserve our democracy.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: It is against the law for the Trump administration

        And the price of eggs continues to increase. Impeach Trump and deport him to Guantanamo!

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Cat's out of the bag.

    We know what it's for. Pretty much every civilian federal employee was offered a choice: a buyout for "deferred retirement," with about 8 months severance and full benefits during that period, or they can come back to work, on-premises, with a tightened set of performance expectations.

    The full memo and terms have been posted all over the Internet:

    -------

    Fork in the Road

    Below is the email that was sent to federal employees on January 28, 2025 presenting a deferred resignation offer. If you did not respond to that email and wish to accept the deferred resignation offer, you may do so by following these steps.

    If you wish to resign:

    1) Send an email to hr@opm.gov from your government account. Only an email from your .gov or .mil account will be accepted.

    2) Type the word "Resign" into the "Subject" line of the email. Hit "Send".

    --------

    Deferred Resignation Email to Federal Employees

    January 28, 2025

    During the first week of his administration, President Trump issued a number of directives concerning the federal workforce. Among those directives, the President required that employees return to in-person work, restored accountability for employees who have policy- making authority, restored accountability for senior career executives, and reformed the federal hiring process to focus on merit. As a result of the above orders, the reform of the federal workforce will be significant.

    The reformed federal workforce will be built around four pillars:

    1) Return to Office: The substantial majority of federal employees who have been working remotely since Covid will be required to return to their physical offices five days a week. Going forward, we also expect our physical offices to undergo meaningful consolidation and divestitures, potentially resulting in physical office relocations for a number of federal workers.

    2) Performance culture: The federal workforce should be comprised of the best America has to offer. We will insist on excellence at every level - our performance standards will be updated to reward and promote those that exceed expectations and address in a fair and open way those who do not meet the high standards which the taxpayers of this country have a right to demand. More streamlined and flexible workforce: While a few agencies and even branches of the military are likely to see increases in the size of their workforce, the majority of federal agencies are likely to be downsized through restructurings, realignments, and reductions in force. These actions are likely to include the use of furloughs and the reclassification to at-will status for a substantial number of federal employees.

    4) Enhanced standards of conduct: The federal workforce should be comprised of employees who are reliable, loyal, trustworthy, and who strive for excellence in their daily work. Employees will be subject to enhanced standards of suitability and conduct as we move forward. Employees who engage in unlawful behavior or other misconduct will be prioritized for appropriate investigation and discipline, including termination. Each of the pillars outlined above will be pursued in accordance with applicable law, consistent with your agency's policies, and to the extent permitted under relevant collective-bargaining agreements

    [blah blah blah]

    1. John Riddoch

      Re: Cat's out of the bag.

      And as normal, the best employees will resign (because they'll be able to find another job easily enough), leaving the worst workers (who can't find another job) in place.

      Some other highlights:

      "potentially resulting in physical office relocations for a number of federal workers" - if you stay on, expect that you might have to uproot your entire family.

      "flexible workforce" - Flexible for the employer, not the employee.

      "employees who are reliable, loyal" - that's loyal to MAGA/Trump, not the USA.

      "employees who engage in .. other misconduct" - like following the rule of law rather than autocratic dictats from on high.

      This is part of the drive from Trump to demolish the civil service and remake it in his image.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Cat's out of the bag.

        They don't want a good, efficient workforce. They want a *loyal* workforce.

        Replace the educated, performing employees - who will quit for better options - with those who bulldoze through exactly what the regime wants, irrespective of pesky things like laws or public opinion.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Cat's out of the bag.

          They don't want a good, efficient workforce. They want a *loyal* *compliant* workforce.

          FTFY

          1. John Riddoch

            Re: Cat's out of the bag.

            John Bolton's comment in an interview probably said it best. "Trump doesn't want Loyalty, he wants Fealty" and that's from someone who worked closely with him.

        2. DS999 Silver badge

          Re: Cat's out of the bag.

          I don't think they even want a loyal workforce.

          They want government to become unable to accomplish anything, so they can use that as an excuse to outsource all its activities to companies that Trump personally chooses. And give them long contracts so even if democrats manage to get back power (which may be impossible by 2028 if they have things rigged enough) that their administration has little say in how it is run.

      2. MachDiamond Silver badge

        Re: Cat's out of the bag.

        "And as normal, the best employees will resign"

        Many might, but the job security and solid Platinum benefits can be too good to walk away from. Elected officials seem to have a way to "make" millions on a $200,000 salary, while lower level drones do not, but salaries can still be solid enough to not sneeze at. Somebody with a family may find the un-matchable health/dental/vision/mental insurance too necessary to give up.

    2. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

      Re: Cat's out of the bag.

      So, who wants to reply with "resign" from "potus@whitehouse.gov" ?

    3. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Re: Cat's out of the bag.

      Elmo's obsession with a fork in the road, again. After screwing Twitter employees, who's going to take him up on it his offer?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Cat's out of the bag.

        The choices are 'you're forked', or 'fork off'

    4. breakfast
      Stop

      Re: Cat's out of the bag.

      As I understand it, an executive order can't assign any budget without being approved by one (or both? I'm not American) of the houses so this buyout may not have any money behind it as yet.

      Given which, it would probably be wise to consult a lawyer before accepting it - there's a chance people won't get paid at all, and although in the latter case I daresay the legal profession would be willing to assist in some kind of class action, those can rumble on for quite a while.

      1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: Cat's out of the bag.

        "there's a chance people won't get paid at all,"

        Well, Musk seems to have a hand in it so it wouldn't be surprising.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Cat's out of the bag.

          And trump is infamous for stiffing contractors on their pay.

  3. STOP_FORTH Silver badge
    Facepalm

    HR are Heartless Rascals

    Once Upon a Time there was a big broadcaster which informed, educated and entertained the merrie folk who lived in a constitutional monarchy.

    This was back in the days when people still printed internal telephone directories, for it was a big organisation.

    Big, and riven with internal strife between various factions. One group of apparatchiks took over the production of the internal directories from another inefficient and wasteful group. (How difficult can something be if those idiots can do it?)

    All you need to do is collect all the information from the HR database.

    Come the joyous day of publication the grateful staff eagerly opened their personal copies of the telephone directory.

    It was important to check that your name was spelled correctly, your impressive job title was up to date, your address was correct along with your internal telephone number.

    The day was not joyous for everybody, specifically those poor devils whose details had been replaced with the dread phrase "TO BE MADE REDUNDANT".

    Many of them lived happily ever after.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: HR are Heartless Rascals

      One place I worked at in the 80s when the day came when they told us who would be made redundant they did it with "John Smith please go to meeting room 6" announcements on the Tannoy.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: HR are Heartless Rascals

        I saw that fairly recently. There was only one reason for a 4pm meeting on a Friday

  4. Alan J. Wylie

    WTF is "leepfrog.com"

    OPM have one of the most ridiculous SPF records I've ever seen.

    opm.gov. 300 IN TXT "v=spf1 ip4:205.131.184.50/32 ip4:205.131.184.51/32 ip4:205.131.177.50/32 ip4:205.131.177.151/32 ip4:205.131.184.52/32 ip4:205.131.177.152/32 ip4:205.131.184.125/32 " "ip4:205.131.184.126/32 ip4:205.131.177.125/32 ip4:205.131.177.126/32 ip4:73.23.28.0/24 ip4:208.76.128.0/21 ip4:66.159.72.186/32 ip4:216.230.115.73/32 ip4:216.52.6.89/32 " "ip4:216.230.115.69/24 ip4:66.169.72.166/24 ip4:216.230.114.66/24 ip4:216.230.101.69/24 ip4:66.169.72.176/32 ip4:173.201.193.170/24 ip4:107.20.210.250/32 ip4:52.1.14.157/32 " "ip4:52.6.44.126/32 ip4:52.207.153.36/32 ip4:65.196.93.7/32 ip4:96.43.152.64/28 ip4:96.43.152.80/32 " "ip4:149.19.38.227/32 " "ip4:149.19.37.167 ip4:149.19.38.138 ip4:149.19.37.159 ip4:149.19.37.32 ip4:149.19.37.73 ip4:149.19.37.55 " "ip4:163.120.86.44 ip4:163.120.86.62 ip4:149.19.37.109 ip4:149.19.37.33 ip4:149.19.37.49 ip4:149.19.37.86 ip4:163.120.86.56 ip4:163.120.84.26 ip4:149.19.38.45 " "ip4:163.120.84.80 ip4:149.19.38.69 ip4:149.19.38.87 ip4:149.19.38.105 ip4:163.120.84.62 ip4:163.120.84.37 ip4:149.19.38.63 ip4:163.120.84.20 " "ip4:52.61.131.175/32 ip4:52.61.131.176/28 ip4:52.61.135.175/32 ip4:52.61.135.176/28 ip4:34.206.132.87/32 ip4:18.233.74.128/32 include:spf.protection.outlook.com" " a:usalearning.net mx:usalearning.net include:e2ma.net exists:%{i}._spf.mta.salesforce.com include:leepfrog.com -all"

    1. gryphon

      Re: WTF is "leepfrog.com"

      I thought the max size of an SPF record was 255 characters / 512 bytes?

      Each line is nearly a hundred characters.

      And I doubt leepfrog.com will last long.

      Their About Us says - "Leepfrog’s 140+ team members, affectionately referred to as “Froggers”, enjoy a start-up culture focused on inclusivity, health, advancement, and work-life balance. Our in-house (and free!) coffee and tea bar is a central, bustling hub in our Iowa headquarters."

      The inclusivity bit alone is enough to get them banished in MAGA world.

      1. Alan J. Wylie

        Re: WTF is "leepfrog.com"

        I thought the max size of an SPF record was 255 characters / 512 bytes?

        Sort of. Note that there are multiple double quote delimited strings in their record.

        RFC 7208 section 3.3

        "TXT records containing multiple strings are useful in constructing records that would exceed the 255-octet maximum length of a character-string within a single TXT record."

      2. DS999 Silver badge

        Re: WTF is "leepfrog.com"

        I wonder why they were ever in there in the first place. Why would a company that appears to make educational software be included in that government SPF record??

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "If you ever receive communications from this address, it can be considered trusted," the messages added.

    Tell me you don't realise how trivial it is to spoof the 'from' address in an email without telling me you don't understand how trivial it is to spoof the 'from' address in an email.

    1. jryeaman

      Is Dido Harding involved?

    2. BossHobo

      Agreed, that one line countered every other training we've received the past few years.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The mad Emperor Caligula once said

    "Would that the Roman people had a single neck to cut off their head."

    It was also said that he wanted to make his horse a Senator.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The mad Emperor Caligula once said

      The Mango Mussolini has quite a few Senators who are asses.

  7. Omnipresent Silver badge

    welcome to hell

    You people still quoting regulations and laws at me and others don't seem to get it yet.

    There. Are. No. More. Laws.

    There is no more America. Pull out. It does not exist any longer. There is only hell, and evil, and manipulation, and death.

    You will submit, be jailed for life in a gulag, or killed by firing squad. He is also wiping what's left of the internet, so that is no longer to be trusted for anything as well. The internet is officially dead. OFFICIALLY, it no longer exists. Find another job... fast.

    You people that don't catch on fast enough are going to get cooked alive trying to still find some "good", or righteousness left.

    Ther is only satan, and hell, and evil.

    1. Missing Semicolon Silver badge

      Re: welcome to hell

      Calm down dear.

      1. Omnipresent Silver badge

        Re: welcome to hell

        Thank you for the participation badge, but there is only one thing left to do, and that's PRAY.

        The world is on fire. It will burn you soon enough. Pray. There is nothing left but ashes and nightmares. God help the children.

        1. Dimmer Silver badge

          Re: welcome to hell

          Re: omni

          I am a bit confused here. Are you talking about the 4 years of Biden, the last 9 days of Trump or the bureaucracy in general?

          Regardless of your personal situation, I do agree that prayer and belief in a higher being is a good thing.

          Guys, when you post - please help me out and give specific examples of the problems caused so that I can understand who you are talking about. Depending on your perspective, some comments can fit either or both.

          1. Omnipresent Silver badge

            Re: welcome to hell

            ^^^ This is how it starts. The circle of confusion. The "but they're all bad." "Whatabout?"

            I use bible references for a reason. I was raised a Christian. In that sense I was taught right and wrong. Good and Evil. I tend to recognize it when I see it. The internet doesn't teach you that. The internet has been turned into a tool for evil.

            What I do is a form of protest, and it's very effective. I hold a mirror up to their faces. Show them their lies, their corruption, their deceit. Become the evil they seek. You know what Jesus, and Socrates, and Boudicca did? They defied the empire. They showed the empire for who they truly were. They rebelled, and paid the ultimate price for it, because as we say... "freedom isn't free." It will be taken from you in a heartbeat.

            I have heard of some recent protests I agree with. Not all protests are worth the energy, or time. Most are ineffective. I like the idea of becoming the evil they seek though. Knock on their doors dressed in devil costumes spewing revelations at them. Hang goat heads on their businesses and establishments. Pull your money out of the banking system. They are going to crash the economy and steal your money anyway. Do it first. If there is space enough, start a raging bonfire and dance naked like witches spewing hexes. Become their evil. Give them what they want.

            You know what America is doing now? Silent protest. Let them hang themselves. They will pull the lever and hang before they remove their executioner mask.

            1. IGotOut Silver badge

              Re: welcome to hell

              "In that sense I was taught right and wrong. Good and Evil. I tend to recognize it when I see it."

              Ah the bible.

              Incest. Good

              Rape. Good

              Gang Rape of your virgin daughters, even better.

              Genocide Good

              Mass Murder Good

              Wanton Destruction. Good.

              Misogyny. Good.

              Yup a shining example of a book to live you're life by.

              1. Omnipresent Silver badge

                Re: welcome to hell

                You mean the old testament? That wasn't the life of Jesus was it (how do I know you don't know?) It's also not what the military teaches. At least, not in America.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: welcome to hell

            "Are you talking about the 4 years of Biden, the last 9 days of Trump"

            Under Biden, the impassible roads out in the boonies of the US where I live have been resurfaced. The crumbling bridge has been repaired. My friend's insulin got cheap enough that she didn't have to ration it and not eat some days to make it stretch. My small business boomed, where it had been only so-so the previous four years. We didn't fear our friends who just "look illegal" being rounded up and deported. We prosecuted and convicted a 34 count felon. We had a sane, lawful, and returning to bipartisan cooperative government.

            So F right off with that Biden wah-wah, and show us all on the dolly where the big, bad Biden hurt your fee-fees.

            And if you mention Hunter, who had no role in the US government, I will IMMEDIATELY raise you three vapid scions of a degenerate family slithering in and out of the Oval Office, coked up Don, Eric the clueless, and Ivanka the daughter-wife with more trade from China than her daddy's had bad makeup days.

    2. Sherrie Ludwig

      Re: welcome to hell

      @Omnipresent: Is there a nice country, that would take two old folk who have enough to live modestly on their own? We're no bother, honestly....I am only a second generation American citizen. My crime is voting for the prosecutor not the felon, and I expect to be deported at a moment's notice.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The government employees that you want to keep are the ones who quietly resign. The rest you should bury in your back yard.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Back yard's too close; I prefer an undisclosed location out in the wilderness, preferably next to a hog farm.

  9. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    "Someone literally walked into our building and plugged in an email server to our network"

    Was it carried in disguised as a sink?

    1. JWLong Silver badge

      Was it carried in disguised as a sink?

      Hell no. It said "MicroSoft Exchange Server" on the side of it!

      It will be there for decades to come...............

    2. Ken Hagan Gold badge

      If someone literally walked into my employer's premises and plugged in an email server, it literally wouldn't have LAN access. Is USG that lax?

  10. Flocke Kroes Silver badge

    One small corner of a truck load of issues

    Problem: No-one left to license Starship launches

    "Solution": No-one left to issue fines for launching without a license.

  11. Fonant

    Is the Orange One simply following orders from Putin?

    A very clever way to win a modern war: take over all news and gossip, persuade the population to vote for a puppet tyrant, tell the stupid tyrant to do things that will destroy the country from the inside out.

    Things like imposing huge tariffs on trade, being blatantly rude about other countries, sacking large numbers of civil servants, freeing criminals who tried to bring the state down a few years ago, appointing oligarchs to positions of power, tying the economy to dodgy cryptocurrency.

    I just hope this doesn't turn into an old-fashioned war.

    1. Flocke Kroes Silver badge

      Re: old fashioned war

      I am not convinced Trump is following Putin's orders but he is following Putin's strategy.

      When saying something stupid no longer distracts from his failure at governing Trump will start a war abroad. In the mean time he is following Hitler's play-book: the first country Hitler invaded was Germany.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: old fashioned war

        Yup; and yet people are all surprised when they learn this.

        those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it.

    2. Omnipresent Silver badge

      The most dastardly part of all this is half the population refuses to believe it did, and is, happening to them. Not them, they're smarter than that. It would never happen to THEM.

  12. Tron Silver badge

    You really shouldn't work for dodgy geezers.

    If you get the chance to bag some cash and escape, do so.

    We had to watch our country get trashed by Boris. Now it is America's turn.

  13. DJ
    FAIL

    I, for one,

    welcome the US of A to the third world - home of would-be dictators, stooges, and inhabitants of the island of misfit human beings.

    (see also: scores in own goal)

    See you (maybe) in four years, lads!

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    You poor sods, is all I can say

    Imagine living in a country where all Government employees have been sacked and replaced by the US equivalent of Crapita.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hillary Clinton

    Seems she set up a rouge email server or two herself.

    Monkey Politician see, monkey politician do.

  16. DuchessofDukeStreet

    I wonder how long it will be before one has to be a card carrying member of the "Republican Party" to obtain or keep any government funded job?

    1. BartyFartsLast Silver badge

      That's pretty much how it is, kiss Trump's ring and get a plum job in government.

  17. BartyFartsLast Silver badge

    But what about his emails....

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