{"id":2401608,"date":"2025-02-11T22:46:02","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T03:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/musk-details-sluggish-federal-retirement-process-at-old-mine-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-02-11T22:47:47","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T03:47:47","slug":"musk-details-sluggish-federal-retirement-process-at-old-mine-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/musk-details-sluggish-federal-retirement-process-at-old-mine-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Musk details sluggish federal retirement process at old mine &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmusk-details-sluggish-federal-retirement-process-at-old-mine-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2401608&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Elon Musk recently highlighted the inefficiencies of the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">federal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-push-court-packing-temper-tantrum-after-leaked-supreme-court-draft-opinion\/\" title=\"Democrats Push Court Packing Temper Tantrum After Leaked Supreme Court Draft Opinion\">retirement process<\/a> \u200blinked<\/a> to a Pennsylvania \u2064limestone mine that stores all goverment employees&#8217; retirement paperwork. Speaking alongside President Donald Trump, Musk\u2062 emphasized that the outdated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/yellen-fitch-downgrade-entirely-unwarranted-amid-us-economys-strength\/\" title=\"Yellen dismisses Fitch downgrade as unjustified despite strong US economy.\">manual processing<\/a> system only allows 10,000 employees to\u2063 retire\u2064 each\u200b month due\u200d to limitations \u2062in handling\u200b the\u2063 paperwork, which is primarily done by hand. He stated that the speed \u2064of retirements\u2064 is limited by how quickly the mine&#8217;s elevator can transport documents, which can break down, causing further delays. Efforts \u2062to automate this process have been ongoing for decades, with about $100 million invested, yet\u200d the system remains slow, with a typical retirement submission taking at least 61 days to process. Musk&#8217;s comments reflect a \u200ddesire to streamline \u200dthe \u2064retirement process and\u2062 reduce the federal workforce&#8217;s size.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Musk details sluggish federal retirement process at old Pennsylvania mine<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1991497\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>An old <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/pennsylvania\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Pennsylvania<\/a> limestone mine housing all retirement paperwork for government employees is limiting how fast workers can retire. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/elon-musk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Elon Musk<\/a> wants to change that.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Speaking next to President Donald Trump on Tuesday, Musk explained how the mine only allows 10,000 employees to retire per month because of the slowness of the manual processing of the paperwork.<\/p>\n<p>He said he&rsquo;s aiming to fix the process to allow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">federal workers<\/a> to retire faster, which would meet DOGE&rsquo;s goal of cutting down the federal workforce.<\/p>\n<p>Musk said all retirement paperwork is handwritten and then goes down the mine and into a mineshaft elevator. &ldquo;The limiting factor is the speed at which the mineshaft elevator can move determines how many people can retire from the federal government, and the elevator breaks down sometimes and nobody can retire,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Doesn&rsquo;t that sound crazy?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You can do practically anything else and you would add to the goods and services of the United States in a more useful way,&rdquo; the Tesla CEO said.<\/p>\n<p>The DOGE X account shared further details about the mine after the DOGE leader&rsquo;s comments.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Federal employee retirements are processed using paper, by hand, in an old limestone mine in Pennsylvania. 700+ mine workers operate 230 feet underground to process ~10,000 applications per month, which are stored in manila envelopes and cardboard boxes. The retirement process&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/dXCTgpAWLs\">pic.twitter.com\/dXCTgpAWLs<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DOGE\/status\/1889437908094042277?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 11, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>    <\/p>\n<p>The mine, which holds employees in the government&rsquo;s Office of Personnel Management, has been trying to revolutionize its process for decades without success. The government has been trying to automate the mine&rsquo;s work since at least 1981. <\/p>\n<p>At least $100 million has been spent on the effort to automate the work there. The long process for processing paperwork also delays the speed at which workers can receive their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-texas-abortion-ban-hurts-big-oils-effort-to-transform-its-workforce\/\" title=\"How Texas\u2019 abortion ban hurts Big Oil\u2019s effort to transform its workforce\">full retirement benefits<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The <em>Washington Post<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/sf\/national\/2014\/03\/22\/sinkhole-of-bureaucracy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">reported<\/a> from inside the mine in 2014 the five-step process for a worker&rsquo;s retirement papers to be fully processed. The first step involves a worker filing their retirement papers and the paperwork being shipped to the facility. Once the paperwork arrives, a worker must match it up to other paper records or scan them into a digital database.<\/p>\n<p>All their paperwork must be placed into a file, and missing paperwork must be acquired from other federal agencies. That paperwork is then turned into a digital file and reviewed separately by another employee. The process took at least 61 days on average then, the same amount of time it took in 1977.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The mine complex is owned by Iron Mountain, which leases out caverns for storage. The government moved its old records there in 1960.<\/p>\n<p>The <em>Washington Examiner <\/em>reached out to the White House and the OPM for comment about the mine but received no response.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1991497\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1991497\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Musk highlights slow federal retirement process at PA mine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2401609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Elon-Musk.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[50227,50228,43664,4250,32076],"class_list":["post-2401608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-federal-retirement","tag-government-process","tag-mining-industry","tag-musk","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Elon-Musk.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2401608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2401608"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2401608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2401612,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2401608\/revisions\/2401612"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2401609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2401608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2401608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2401608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}