“Controversy Erupts as Tech Billionaire Makes Bold Request”
Confusion among US government employees mounted on Monday as they received conflicting guidance regarding a directive endorsed by Elon Musk to report their previous week’s activities via email or face potential termination.
Just two days after sending an email inquiring about their weekly tasks, the office responsible clarified that responses were optional, leaving agencies to determine their own approach.
However, as federal agencies received this updated guidance, President Donald Trump asserted that employees failing to comply with Musk’s request would either be fired or face disciplinary action.
Later that Monday evening, Musk reiterated the ultimatum, offering employees a final opportunity to respond.
The email from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on Saturday instructed recipients to provide five examples of their activities over the past week, avoiding sensitive information. Recipients were required to reply by the end of Monday.
Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), warned that lack of response would be seen as a resignation.
These remarks sparked criticism, prompting federal worker unions and activist groups to file a lawsuit in California seeking to halt the email directive.
Key agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services (HHS), Justice, and the FBI—now under Trump appointees—instructed employees to disregard the directive, leading to widespread uncertainty with conflicting messages over the weekend.
This resulted in confusion among federal workers about their job security, with many expressing frustration over the mixed guidance provided by their agencies.
“They’re driving us crazy,” an HHS employee told the BBC on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
On Monday afternoon, OPM held a call with federal agencies’ human resources leaders, stating that each entity could decide how to address the directive sent on Saturday, as reported by CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.
Later that day, President Trump praised Musk’s request as a “brilliant” move during a White House briefing.
“There was intelligence in sending it,” he stated. “We’re assessing if people are working, so we’re asking them to inform us about their activities last week. If they don’t respond, it’s likely they don’t exist or aren’t working.”
“If you don’t reply, you could be subject to disciplinary action or termination because many aren’t responding, possibly indicating they’re non-existent,” Trump added.
Musk maintained he was following instructions from President Trump.
“Given the President’s discretion, employees will receive another opportunity,” he wrote on X, implying that those who didn’t respond to his request by Monday’s deadline would face termination for non-compliance.
“The email request was incredibly simple, merely requiring a few words and a click of ‘send’!” he commented in another post. “Yet, so many failed even that basic test, sometimes due to encouragement from their superiors. Have you ever seen such INEPTITUDE and DISREGARD for how YOUR TAXES are utilized?”
Despite resistance from agencies led by Trump
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt adamantly denied any suggestion that President Trump was involved in the conflicting recommendations being issued by various government agencies. Leavitt stated that any notion to the contrary is completely false. However, the statement failed to provide insight into the reasons behind the discrepancies in the guidance from different branches of the government.
