Once again, Elon Musk has made his mark on official communications from the federal government. The Office of Personnel Management, which includes several Musk supporters, dispatched an email to staff on Saturday afternoon. The email instructed employees to submit five bullet points outlining their accomplishments from the previous week, with instructions to copy their manager. Musk stated on X that a failure to respond would be considered a resignation.
This development follows President Trump’s announcement expressing a desire for Musk to adopt a more assertive stance. Trump praised Musk but urged him to be more aggressive, emphasizing the importance of making the country greater. Musk responded affirmatively to Trump’s remarks in a post on X.
The memo closely mirrors a previous message Musk sent to Twitter staff in June 2023 and specified that employees should exclude classified information, links, or attachments in their responses. WIRED confirmed that similar notices were distributed to employees at the FBI, IRS, NIH, and FAA—all agencies dealing with classified information. The deadline set for responses is Monday at 11:59 PM EST.
A current federal employee, preferring to remain anonymous due to lack of authorization to comment, expressed concern that the focus is less on efficiency and more on destabilizing democracy by distressing federal workers. The employee likened the situation to a video game, where the players gain when they negatively impact federal workers.
In the past weeks, the Trump administration has dismissed thousands of probationary employees with short tenures in the federal government, affecting those in nuclear security, veterans, and Department of Agriculture employees dealing with a bird flu threat. Additionally, the Department of Government Efficiency has either effectively stopped or attempted to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
It remains uncertain if OPM possesses the authority to enforce resignations through noncompliance with the email instructions. Attorney Laurie Burgess, who has represented Twitter and SpaceX employees in disputes, questioned the legality given the erosion of agencies meant to act as watchdogs. Burgess mentioned that she has upcoming cases at the National Labor Relations Board but is unsure if the board will exist by that time.
Despite appearances, the White House clarified that Musk is not the DOGE administrator but serves as a senior advisor. The White House Office of Administration director explained that, like other senior advisors, Musk holds no formal authority to make government decisions, as stated in a sworn statement.
The email’s subject line to federal workers, “What did you do last week?” recalls a text Musk sent to former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal in April 2022, when Musk was contemplating joining Twitter’s board. However, their relationship was deteriorating, leading Musk to opt against joining the board and consider taking Twitter private.
Recently, Musk has reiterated his discontent with Agrawal’s performance, claiming the former CEO was unproductive and subsequently terminated.
Additional reporting was provided by Aarian Marshall and Emily Mullin.
