Elon Musk, the billionaire advisor to President Donald Trump, declared on Saturday that all US federal employees will soon be required to justify their weekly work or risk losing their jobs. This announcement came just hours after Trump urged Musk to be “more aggressive” in his efforts to slash government spending.
Musk widely recognized as the world’s richest person and Trump’s biggest donor has spearheaded an effort to reduce the federal 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 wrote.
According to a copy of the email obtained by AFP, federal workers are asked to submit “approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week.” The email, issued by the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and titled “What did you do last week?”, set a deadline for replies at 11:59 pm on Monday, though it did not explicitly state that non-response would result in termination. The OPM has not yet commented on the matter.
Following the deadline, Musk posted on X, “A large number of good responses have been received already. These are the people who should be considered for promotion.”
The move has drawn sharp criticism from the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), whose national president Everett Kelley condemned the decision. “Their utter disdain for federal employees and the critical services they provide to the American people is evident,” Kelley said. He further argued, “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 employees have told AFP that their agencies advised them not to respond to the email and to await further instructions—a sentiment echoed 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,” said a physician at the Department of Veterans Affairs who received the email.
Later, Musk downplayed the stringency of the request, writing on X that the bar is “very low” and adding, “An email with some bullet points that make any sense at all is acceptable!”
Earlier on Saturday, President Trump took to his Truth Social platform, stating, “Elon is doing a great job, but I would like to see him get more aggressive.” Trump has positioned Musk at the helm of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) advisory body, tasking him with slashing public spending and eliminating waste and corruption. In a separate announcement on Friday, the US Defense Department revealed plans to reduce its civilian workforce by at least 5% starting next week—a move that has already seen thousands of federal workers on probation let go.
DOGE, which Musk runs, has sparked controversy and legal challenges as it continues its cost-cutting efforts. A judge on Thursday recently denied a union bid to temporarily halt the firing of thousands of federal employees. Despite concerns about conflicts of interest arising from Musk’s government contracts, he said this week he would work with Trump for as long as he “can be helpful.”
Trump, addressing a meeting of conservative activists on Saturday, praised Musk by saying, “We love Elon, don’t we? He’s a character. People said, what official position does he have? I said, ‘Patriot’.” Trump also enumerated “some of the flagrant scams” uncovered under Musk’s leadership.
Musk, for his part, noted that DOGE is publicizing its actions on its website to ensure transparency and accountability, reinforcing the administration’s commitment to drastic government reforms.
AFP
