Federal workers have filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk over an email that threatened employees with job loss unless they explained their accomplishments by the end of the day Monday.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in California federal court, aims to stop mass layoffs pushed by Musk and former President Donald Trump. It also challenges the email sent by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on Saturday, which demanded employees submit a list of five things they accomplished the previous week.
While Musk’s email was intended to gather reports of workers’ achievements, it caused confusion. Trump backed Musk’s demand, suggesting that federal employees were not working and that many were not even real. He claimed that Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency had uncovered “hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud” and that federal paychecks were being sent to non-existent employees. Trump did not provide evidence to support these claims.
Despite Musk and Trump pushing for compliance, OPM clarified that responding to the email was voluntary. This led to further confusion across different government agencies. Some workers were told they had to comply, others were informed it was optional, and some were told not to respond at all.
Amid the confusion, the lawsuit was updated to argue that Musk violated federal law by threatening mass firings, the Associated Press reports.The suit, led by the State Democracy Defenders Fund, referred to the situation as “one of the most massive employment frauds in the history of this country.”
In response to the legal action, White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly dismissed the lawsuit, claiming that the employees could have easily responded to their managers, just as employees in the private sector would do.
Musk and Trump have been working to downsize and overhaul the federal government, urging employees to resign, and directing agencies to lay off probationary workers. There have been protests in Washington and resistance from within the government, with some legal experts suggesting that many layoffs may be illegal.
The Office of Special Counsel, a government watchdog, has also stepped in, warning that firings may be unlawful. President Trump is pushing to fire the head of this office, Hampton Dellinger, in a case now reaching the U.S. Supreme Court.
Some federal officials, including Trump allies like FBI Director Kash Patel, have urged employees not to respond to the email, citing privacy concerns and pointing out that each agency has its own processes for evaluating staff. However, Trump dismissed the idea of a split between Musk and other Cabinet officials, calling the request a “pretty ingenious idea.”
The initial email from OPM simply asked workers to detail five accomplishments from the previous week and was due by 11:59 p.m. EST on Monday. It did not mention any potential consequences for noncompliance.
Despite the lack of clarity from OPM, several agencies, including the State Department, Homeland Security, and the Pentagon, instructed their workers not to respond. Some agencies like the Department of Justice also told their employees to ignore the email, while others like the Education Department ordered compliance.
Since Trump’s second term began, thousands of federal employees have been laid off or forced out of the workforce through resignations. The full number of workers affected is unclear, but reports indicate that hundreds of thousands have been impacted, many working outside Washington.
The situation continues to spark legal battles, protests, and uncertainty across the federal workforce.
