Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is set to attend President Donald Trump’s Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. The announcement was made by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt during her Tuesday briefing. Leavitt explained that Musk would be discussing the initiatives DOGE has been implementing, as well as listening to Cabinet secretaries talk about their efforts to identify waste, fraud, and abuse within their agencies.
Before the meeting, over 20 civil service employees at DOGE resigned, explaining that they could no longer use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services.” In a joint resignation letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, the 21 staff members stated, “We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations. However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments.”
Recently, DOGE sent out an email asking federal employees to list five achievements they had completed in the past week. However, many department heads advised their teams not to respond to the email. Musk has stated that those who fail to reply could face termination. In response, the Office of Personnel Management intervened, informing agency leaders on Monday that participation was not mandatory.
Several agencies, including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, advised their staff not to engage with the request. FBI Director Kash Patel instructed employees on Saturday to “pause any responses,” explaining that the agency would coordinate the replies if necessary. “The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of our review processes and will conduct reviews,” Patel stated in a message to staff.
Leadership at the Department of Homeland Security also told its 250,000-plus employees to disregard the email. Internal documents revealed concerns that employees might mistakenly believe participation was required.
President Trump expressed support for Musk’s email directive, stating, “We have people who don’t show up to work, and nobody even knows if they work for the government, so by asking the question, ‘Tell us what you did this week,’ what [Elon’s] doing is saying, ‘Are you actually working?'” Trump added, “If you don’t answer … you’re fired.”
{Matzav.com}