Elon Musk, the CEO of DOGE, stirred controversy on Monday by suggesting that federal employees may soon receive a follow-up email asking them to outline their weekly achievements, warning that failure to reply could lead to “termination.”
Musk’s statement came shortly after the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) informed human resources leaders at various government agencies that the responses to an email sent on Shabbos, requesting a list of five bullet points about what federal workers had accomplished over the past week, were “voluntary.” The OPM further clarified that not replying would not be considered a resignation, contrary to Musk’s earlier assertion.
Musk took to X, calling the email request “utterly trivial,” stating, “The email request was utterly trivial, as the standard for passing the test was to type some words and press send!” He also criticized how many employees failed to meet even this simple task, adding, “Yet so many failed even that inane test, urged on in some cases by their managers.”
In another post, he added, “Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance,” and warned, “Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.”
The head of the Department of Government Efficiency under President Trump argued that the backlash over the initial DOGE request was “absurd” and suggested that it highlighted serious issues within the federal workforce.
The deadline for responses to the first batch of “what you accomplished” emails was set for 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday.
President Trump, 78, defended Musk’s initiative shortly before OPM released its new guidance, saying, “I thought it was great because we have people that don’t show up to work and nobody even knows if they work for the government.” He continued, “What he’s doing is saying ‘Are you actually working?’”
In a modified lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court challenging OPM’s attempt to terminate probationary federal workers, Musk’s email campaign was referenced in an effort to halt the mass dismissals. The lawsuit argued that the Trump administration had not adhered to the proper procedures for firing employees under the Administrative Procedure Act.
The lawsuit pointed out, “OPM has not complied with any procedural requirements,” and noted that certain federal agencies, including the FBI, instructed their employees not to respond to the unexpected OPM request.
Musk responded to the lawsuits by tweeting that federal employees “hate even the tiniest amount of accountability.”
{Matzav.com}