American Bureaucrats Receive Another ‘What Did You Get Done This Week’ Email- wna24
US Federal employees received another email on Friday night requesting them to document their weekly activities, but this time, there was no explicit warning from Elon Musk that failing to respond would cost them their jobs.
The request comes as the Musk-led push to downsize the federal workforce gains momentum. Some observers believe the emails could be used as justification for cutting thousands of government jobs.
According to NPR and Government Executive, the emails, sent late Friday, asked employees to provide five bullet points summarizing their work. The deadline for submission was set for Monday night at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Unlike a similar email sent last week, these new messages did not mention any consequences for failing to respond.
On Saturday morning, Musk addressed the issue on his platform, X (formerly Twitter), stating, “The President has made it clear that this is mandatory for the executive branch.”
A look back at last week’s controversy
A week ago, a nearly identical email caused an uproar when Musk warned on X that non-compliance would be treated as a resignation.
The White House later clarified that responses were actually voluntary, and many federal agencies instructed their employees not to reply.
Still, about half of federal workers submitted responses. Meanwhile, unions representing large sections of the workforce filed lawsuits, arguing that the email campaign was illegal and that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) had no authority to fire employees for failing to comply.
President Trump later commented on the situation, saying that those who didn’t respond were “on the bubble.”
Musk, for his part, defended the emails, calling them a test to ensure workers were actually working.
What’s next?
With the March 13 deadline for federal agencies to prepare large-scale layoffs looming, the latest round of emails may carry greater urgency.
What remains unclear is how agencies will respond this time—whether they will require employees to comply or advise them to ignore the emails once again.
For now, federal workers must decide whether to answer—or risk being on uncertain ground as job cuts approach.