DOJ Staff Raise Concerns Over Directive Leading to Ethics Violations After Musk’s ’Report or Resign’ Order- wna24

Washington: According to recent reports, employees of the Department of Justice (DOJ) have expressed concerns that complying with a new ’Report or Resign’ directive could result in potential ethics violations. In response to these concerns, at least five senior DOJ officials have asked their teams not to submit any details about their work until they receive more guidance.

On Monday, Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under President Donald Trump, said, “All federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk posted on X. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”   

Elon Musk’s ’Report or Resign’ Directive to Federal Employees   

Meanwhile, federal employees are experiencing a tough time dealing with layoffs and justifying their jobs; unions have come up with challenging mass firings of federal probationary workers.

Unions Challenge Mass Firing of Federal Staff 

A new lawsuit filed by a group of unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), challenges the authority of the government’s chief human resources office to fire thousands of probationary federal employees. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, argues that the firings were carried out pursuant to former President Donald Trump’s goal of shrinking the federal workforce.

The unions contend that only Congress has the power to control and authorize federal employment and related expenditures. Each agency is responsible for managing its own employees, according to the suit.

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Last week, agency heads were directed by Trump to initiate “large-scale reductions in force,” targeting positions with duties “not mandated by statute.”

Hundreds and thousands of federal employees have been terminated or are in the process of being terminated across various agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, the Food and Drug Administration, the Transportation Security Administration, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The standardised letters used for terminations, directed by Office of Personnel Management (OPM) acting director Charles Ezell, reportedly falsely stated that the terminations were for performance reasons. The unions argue that OPM lacked “constitutional, statutory, or regulatory authority” to order the terminations against congressional wishes and accuse the agency of perpetrating a fraud on the federal workforce.

Separation of Powers and Legal Violations
The lawsuit highlights that the president and executive branch have “no constitutional power to unilaterally enact, amend, or repeal parts of duly enacted statutes.” Congress created the executive agencies and granted agency heads the authority to manage their own employees, including hiring and firing decisions and spending appropriated funds.

The mass termination of probationary employees is alleged to have violated the Administrative Procedure Act for being arbitrary and capricious and undertaken without proper notice and comment. 

The unions also claim that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) actions violated the Civil Service Reform Act, which established uniform standards for government agencies and civil service employment.