Amanda Scales

Amanda Scales is an American businesswoman who has served as the chief of staff of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in the first part of 2025.

Early life

Scales attended the University of California, Davis.^[1] During college, she interned for the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC, while also teleworking for an internet startup based in Davis, CA.^[2][3] She joined the honors program at the College of Letters and Sciences in 2012.^[4]

Career

Scales held talent acquisition positions at tech companies, including Uber, before joining xAI, an Elon Musk company.^[5]

In January 2025, Scales was appointed to be chief of staff of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.^[6] She was reportedly installed to carry out U.S. president Donald Trump and Musk's directives to purge large numbers of staff from the federal government; agencies were directed to send lists of potentially fireable employees directly to her.^[7] Scales is one of only a few people with the authority to create exemptions for mass firings across federal agencies.^[8] By May 20, Scales had returned to xAI.^[9]

Scales is on the Board of Directors for the Evergreen Music and Performing Arts in Colorado, an entity that is pending its 501(c)3 status.^[10][11]