Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur and advisor to Donald Trump, has stated that all federal employees in the United States must justify their work or face job termination. This declaration came shortly after the president urged Musk to adopt a more forceful stance in reducing government expenditures.
Musk, recognized as the wealthiest individual in the world and a significant financial backer of Trump, has been at the forefront of efforts to downsize the government workforce.
“All federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation,” Musk shared.
A copy of the email sent to federal employees, which was made available to AFP, asked workers to provide “approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week.”
The message was dispatched by the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), with the subject line, “What did you do last week?”. Recipients were given until 11:59 pm Monday to respond, although the email did not explicitly mention any consequences for noncompliance.
“A large number of good responses have been received already. These are the people who should be considered for promotion,” Musk posted on X following the deadline.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest union representing federal workers, pledged to challenge any unlawful terminations in a statement from its national president, Everett Kelley.
Kelley criticized Musk and the Trump administration, condemning the move as demonstrating “their utter disdain for federal employees and the critical services they provide to the American people.”
He continued, “It is cruel and disrespectful to hundreds of thousands of veterans who are wearing their second uniform in the civil service to be forced to justify their job duties to this out-of-touch, privileged, unelected billionaire who has never performed one single hour of honest public service in his life.”
Several federal workers told AFP that their agencies instructed them to withhold responses to the email until further guidance was provided. This advice was reiterated by the National Treasury Employees Union.
“I have so much work to do, I am not going to neglect actual patient care for this drama,” one physician at the Department of Veterans Affairs, who received the email, remarked to AFP.
Musk later attempted to downplay the seriousness of the request, writing on X that the standard was “very low” and added, “An email with some bullet points that make any sense at all is acceptable!”
Earlier that day, Trump praised Musk on his Truth Social platform, stating that Musk was “doing a great job, but I would like to see him get more aggressive.”
Trump appointed the tech mogul to head the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) advisory board, entrusting him with the task of cutting public spending and addressing alleged waste and corruption.
In the most recent round of cuts announced on Friday, the US Department of Defense revealed plans to reduce its civilian workforce by a minimum of five percent, starting next week.
The Trump administration has already initiated the termination of numerous federal employees currently in probationary status.
DOGE operates as an autonomous body managed by Musk, though its aggressive cost-cutting efforts have faced resistance from various groups and resulted in mixed court rulings.
A judge ruled on Thursday against a union’s request to temporarily block the firing of thousands of employees.
Musk stated earlier this week that he would continue to collaborate with Trump for as long as he “can be helpful,” as both brushed aside concerns regarding potential conflicts of interest linked to Musk’s government contracts.
“Elon is doing a great job,” Trump said during a gathering of conservative activists yesterday, listing what he claimed were “some of the flagrant scams” that had been uncovered.
“We love Elon, don’t we? He’s a character,” Trump remarked. “People said, what official position does he have? I said, ‘Patriot’.”
{Matzav.com}