Elon Musk email to federal employees met with resistance
Agencies tell workers not to comply with Elon Musk email
Several key U.S. agencies told federal workers over the weekend not to comply with Elon Musk's email in which he demanded employees explain what they accomplished last week — or risk losing their job.
Elon Musk’s email to federal employees this weekend requesting "what they got done" last week at work has been met with resistance, from key federal agencies to lawmakers.
Hundreds of thousands of federal workers were given little more than 48 hours to comply or risk losing their job, sparking confusion.
Elon Musk email to federal employees
FILE - Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, US, on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. Photographer: Will Oliver/ EPA / Bloomberg via Getty Images
The backstory:
Elon Musk tweeted on Saturday that all federal employees will be asked to report "what they got done last week," and that failure to reply would be considered a resignation.
Shortly afterward, federal employees received a three-line email telling them to share "approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager."
Screenshots of the email sent to FOX Television Stations by a federal employee who wished to remain anonymous. (Images: FTS)
Big picture view:
Layoffs and firings have affected many federal departments in recent weeks.
Since Donald Trump took office in January, one of his top priorities has been cutting and reorganizing spending within the federal government.
The president has tapped billionaire businessman Elon Musk to lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has been tasked with finding and prioritizing what to cut. Thousands of federal government employees have been laid off or fired in the process.
Dig deeper:
Musk’s email came just hours after Trump encouraged him on social media to "get more aggressive" in reducing the size of the government.
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Reaction to Elon Musk’s email
What they're saying:
- Democrats and some Republicans were critical of Musk's directive.
- Key federal agencies from the FBI and State Department to the Pentagon instructed their employees not to comply with the request.
- Labor unions have threatened lawsuits.
- President Trump and Musk both posted a meme mocking federal employees.
"If I could say one thing to Elon Musk, it’s like, please put a dose of compassion in this," Sen. John Curtin, R-Utah. "These are real people. These are real lives. These are mortgages. ... It's a false narrative to say we have to cut and you have to be cruel to do it as well."
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-VA, demanded Sunday that the Office of Personnel Management withdraw the email.
"This threat is illegal, reckless, and yet another example of the cruel and arbitrary chaos Mr. Musk is inflicting on the people’s government and its dedicated public servants. You must immediately clarify that federal employees’ nonresponse to this ill-conceived, weekend email does not constitute resignation," he wrote.
Newly confirmed FBI Director Kash Patel, an outspoken Trump ally, instructed bureau employees to ignore Musk’s request, at least for now.
"The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all of our review processes, and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures," Patel wrote in an email confirmed by The Associated Press. "When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses."
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Pentagon leadership instructed employees to "pause" any response to Musk's team as well.
"The Department of Defense is responsible for reviewing the performance of its personnel and it will conduct any review in accordance with its own procedures," according to an email from Jules Hurst, the deputy undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. "When and if required, the Department will coordinate responses..."
"It is cruel and disrespectful to hundreds of thousands of veterans who are wearing their second uniform in the civil service to be forced to justify their job duties to this out-of-touch, privileged, unelected billionaire who has never performed one single hour of honest public service in his life," AFGE President Everett Kelley said.
"AFGE will challenge any unlawful terminations of our members and federal employees across the country."
The other side:
Musk and Trump appeared undeterred.
They both posted a meme on social media mocking federal employees. The Sunday post featured a cartoon character writing a list of accomplishments from the previous week led by, "Cried about Trump," "Cried about Elon," "Made it into the office for once," and "Read some emails."
Trump posted it to his Truth Social site a few hours after Musk posted it on X.
According to DOGE’s official website, as of Feb. 17, 2025, the agency estimates its savings around $55 billion. The agency attributes this to "a combination of fraud detection/deletion, contract/lease cancelations, contract/lease renegotiations, asset sales, grant cancelations, workforce reductions, programmatic changes, and regulatory savings."
What's next:
The deadline to reply was listed as Monday, Feb. 24, at 11:59 p.m., although the email did not include Musk's social media threat about those who fail to respond.
It’s unclear what the next steps will be this week once the deadline passes.
USAID workers fired
Meanwhile:
The Trump administration said it is placing all but a fraction of staffers at the U.S. Agency for International Development on leave worldwide and eliminating at least 1,600 U.S.-based jobs.
The notices were sent to USAID workers and viewed Sunday by The Associated Press.
Big picture view:
The move was the latest and one of the biggest steps yet toward what Trump and Musk say is their goal of gutting the 60-year-old aid agency as part of their broader goal of cutting the size of the federal government.
The Source: Information about reaction to the email was taken from quotes and emails obtained by The Associated Press, and from a press release posted Feb. 23, 2025, on Rep. Connolly’s website. Background information on DOGE and its activities was taken from previous FOX Television Station reportings and DOGE’s official website. Screenshots of the email were sent to FTS by a source that wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. This story was reported from Detroit.