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US Politics

What Elon Musk Got Wrong About Why Federal Retirement Is Still Managed out of a Limestone Mine

Wired
Summary
Nutrition label

77% Informative

Elon Musk said last week that before any US federal employee can retire, their paper records have to be processed more than 200 feet underground in an old limestone mine located in rural Pennsylvania .

While Musk ’s comment about elevator dependency is overstated, the mine has many entrances and exits, as well as a road leading in and out that golf carts and other vehicles can drive on.

The Office of Personnel Management tells retirees to expect a three to five-month wait to process their applications.

Repurposed mines provide “excellent fire protection,” and immunity from events like “flood, theft, civil disorder, aircraft crashes, tornadoes, lightning” A 1951 government report found that “an adequate record system” wasn’t even in place yet and urged Congress to “insist” one be created.

The Office of Personnel Management was audited to find the root causes of excessive delays in processing retirement claims.

Despite all of these efforts, the OPM still hasn't finished digitizing the retirement process.

VR Score

75

Informative language

69

Neutral language

63

Article tone

formal

Language

English

Language complexity

63

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

short-lived

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