Elon Musk has sparked controversy and angered federal employees with an email sent last Saturday. The email requested employees to summarize their weekly work and included a social media warning that failure to comply would be considered a resignation.
The email, titled “What did you do last week?”, was reportedly sent from the to employees across various government agencies. These included the FBI, State Department, Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Veterans Affairs Department, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the (CFPB), according to reports. The email instructed employees to reply with approximately five bullet points outlining their accomplishments for the week, copying their manager, and to respond by midnight on Monday.
On X, Musk, who heads the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), stated that, in line with President Donald Trump’s instructions, all federal employees would receive an email requesting a summary of their work from the previous week. He added that failure to respond would be taken as a resignation. However, the email itself did not mention resignation.
TIME has contacted the White House for comment and clarification.
The OPM email, spearheaded by Musk, has drawn criticism from advocates and unions.
Everett Kelley, President of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), released a statement condemning the action.
“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,” Kelley stated. He further added that the AFGE would “challenge any unlawful terminations” of federal employees.
Doreen Greenwald, president of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), representing employees, stated that the email “should be called out as completely un-American”.
“NTEU’s members are professional civil servants and will not back down to these blatant attempts to attack a vital resource for the American public,” she said.
Musk addressed the growing criticism in subsequent posts on X. He clarified that the responses should be brief and noted that many “good responses” had already been received from employees.
“These are the people who should be considered for promotion,” he stated.
Musk’s actions followed President Trump’s post on Truth Social, suggesting that Musk should be supported in his efforts to downsize the federal government—a goal that has already led to previous actions.
In response, Musk affirmed his commitment to Trump’s feedback, stating, “Will do, Mr. President!”
According to an NBC report, Trump’s newly-confirmed FBI Director, Kash Patel, instructed FBI employees to “pause any responses” to Musk’s directive, stating that the FBI would conduct its own performance review process.
“The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all our review processes, and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures,” Patel’s message reportedly read.
Patel’s sentiment is apparently shared elsewhere. sent a similar message to its employees, indicating that leadership would respond to the OPM email on behalf of the department and would evaluate their own employees.
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