Elon Musk, a billionaire and advisor to President Donald Trump, sent an email to federal workers requesting them to list their accomplishments since last week or face termination.
A day after Musk’s team sent an email to hundreds of thousands of federal employees, giving them 48 hours to submit their reports, several US federal agencies instructed their employees not to respond to Musk’s demand.
Musk serves as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, which has laid off over 20,000 employees and offered buyouts to another 75,000 in the early weeks of Trump’s administration.
Federal workers at the FBI and State Department were told not to respond to Musk’s email outside of their respective chains of command, indicating possible tensions between Trump’s appointees and Musk in his efforts to reduce the government’s civilian workforce.
Federal workers in various departments, including Homeland Security, Education, Commerce, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, National Institutes of Health, and the Internal Revenue Service, were also advised not to respond to Musk’s email, as reported by sources and verified emails.
Labor unions have threatened legal action regarding this situation.
While there is bipartisan agreement that the US government, which currently has $36 trillion in debt, could benefit from reform, Musk’s methods have garnered significant criticism.
The Federal workers’ union, American Federation of Government Employees, stated that it does not believe Musk has the authority to terminate non-responsive employees and plans to formally request that the message be withdrawn.
The email left some employees frustrated and concerned about their futures amidst ongoing uncertainty.
Musk defended his email as “a very basic pulse check” and claimed that many government employees are not checking their emails, indicating that some may be non-existent or collecting paychecks under fraudulent identities. He provided no evidence for these claims.
Some officials, like Ed Martin, Trump’s nominee for US Attorney in Washington, DC, praised Musk and DOGE’s actions and instructed staff members to follow Musk’s instructions.
