Elon Musk Renews Firing Threat to Federal Workers, Donald Trump Backs Him- wna24

Washington: Elon Musk, the DOGE head and billionaire has demanded federal employees to share their recent accomplishments in an email ultimatum; the Tesla CEO has also reiterated his demand and renewed the firing threat to federal workers. Defending Musk’s email ultimatum to the federal employees, Trump has asked them, “Are you actually working?”

Days after threatening to fire federal workers if they are unable to share their recent accomplishments, Elon Musk has reiterated his demand and has renewed his firing threat by sharing a post on his social media platform ‘X’ (formerly known as Twitter). The post read, “Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.”

US President Donald Trump supported Elon Musk’s request for federal employees to account for their recent achievements by the end of Monday, warning that failure to do so could lead to termination. However, government agency officials clarified that complying with Musk’s directive was optional. This situation has led to confusion and frustration, resulting in new lawsuits and increased unrest among federal workers.

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“What he’s doing is saying, Are you actually working? And then, if you don’t answer, like, you’re sort of semi-fired or you’re fired, because a lot of people aren’t answering because they don’t even exist,” Trump said during a meeting with French President Macron in the Oval Office. Trump further said that Musk-led DOGE has discovered “hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud” as federal paychecks are going to non-existent employees. Evidence for his claims has not been presented.

While Trump and Musk advocated for their case, the Office of Personnel Management communicated to agency leaders that their employees were not obligated to respond by the 11:59 p.m. EST deadline on Monday, as per a source who chose to remain anonymous to discuss internal matters. This resulted in mixed guidance for federal workers, depending on their respective agencies. Some were instructed to submit a list of five activities they had engaged in the previous week, while others were told it was optional, and some were advised against responding altogether.

Blasting the federal workers, Elon Musk said that they “hate even the tiniest amount of accountability”. He continued to threaten firings hours after employees were told that they didn’t need to comply with his demands. His post read, “Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.” Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager.” However, it said nothing about the potential for employees to be fired for noncompliance.

On Monday morning, employees of the Justice Department received an email stating that they are not required to reply to the request “due to the confidential and sensitive nature of the Department’s work.” However, staff members in the US attorney’s office in Washington were advised to respond “in general terms,” while omitting any case-specific or sensitive details. According to an email reviewed by The Associated Press, attorneys were given guidance on how to report on the number of court hearings they attended, the defendants they charged, the cases they resolved, and other related tasks.

The Department of Health and Human Services informed its staff that there is no requirement for HHS employees to respond. However, those who chose to reply were advised to be vague. An internal email instructed employees to “assume that what you write may be viewed by malicious foreign entities and adjust your response accordingly.” Meanwhile, workers at the Education Department were instructed to comply by Monday morning. Rachel Oglesby, the department’s chief of staff, confirmed that “the email is authentic and employees are expected to respond,” adding that “supervisors will assess both the responses and those who do not reply.” Charles Ezell, the acting director of the Office of Personnel Management, mentioned in an email that Musk’s request might lead to new expectations for employees, potentially including a requirement for weekly summaries of accomplishments.

Attorneys representing various unions, businesses, veterans, and conservation groups submitted an amended lawsuit in federal court in California on Monday claiming that Musk broke the law by threatening widespread layoffs. This lawsuit, led by the State Democracy Defenders Fund, described the situation as “one of the largest employment frauds in the nation’s history.” Anna Kelly, a deputy press secretary at the White House, criticized the legal action, stating that “in the time it took these employees on taxpayer-funded salaries to bring forth this unfounded lawsuit, they could have easily summarized their achievements to their supervisors, as is typical in the private sector, a hundred times over.” Musk is also guiding Trump’s initiative to reform and reduce the size of the federal government. They have encouraged employees to resign, instructed agencies to terminate probationary staff, and even suspended operations at certain agencies.

There are indications that Musk is pushing the boundaries of his influence. Some officials in the administration, including staunch Trump allies like FBI Director Kash Patel, have instructed their teams not to respond to an email asking for details about their activities, citing concerns over privacy and security. They emphasized that agencies have their own methods for assessing employee performance. 

Trump dismissed the notion of any rift with his key adviser, stating, “They don’t mean any of that in a combative way towards Elon,” and added that “everyone thought it was a pretty clever idea.” The recent upheaval started over the weekend when Trump shared on his social media platform, “Elon is doing a great job, but I would like to see him get more aggressive.” In response, Musk announced that “all federal employees will soon receive an email asking for a summary of their accomplishments from last week,” warning that “failing to respond will be interpreted as a resignation.” This approach mirrors the management style he employs in his own companies.