Elon Musk, the tech billionaire, has told federal employees they must respond to an email about their weekly work accomplishments or risk being fired.
Musk sent an email asking workers to list five things they completed the previous week and demanded a response by 11:59 p.m. on Monday. If employees don’t respond, they could face removal.
“Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance,” Musk said on X, referring to those who did not reply to the first email. However, if they fail to answer again, Musk warned that they would be fired.
This move goes against recent advice from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which told federal agencies on Monday that responding to Musk’s email was not mandatory. OPM clarified that not responding would not count as resigning from the job.
The OPM’s message came after confusion about Musk’s email, which was sent to federal employees on Saturday. It gave them a deadline of Monday to reply, stating that if they didn’t, it would be understood as a resignation.
In response, several government departments told their employees not to reply. FBI Director Kash Patel instructed staff not to respond, saying that if more information was needed, the FBI would handle it. Similarly, the Department of Homeland Security told its 250,000 employees to hold off on answering.
OPM had previously been sued over its new email system, which required a privacy assessment. The agency’s guidance said replying to the email was “voluntary,” though it acknowledged that some people might not realize this.
President Donald Trump supported Musk’s move, calling it “genius” during a press conference. “We’re trying to find out if people are working,” he said. “If they don’t respond, it’s possible they’re not working or don’t exist.”
