Hundreds of thousands of federal workers were given less than 48 hours to report what they accomplished over the past week, causing confusion across key agencies. This came as Elon Musk, who’s working closely with President Trump to cut down the size of the federal government, ramped up his efforts.
Musk, who’s known for his cost-cutting initiatives, took to his social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), to announce the request. He posted: “Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email asking what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
Soon after, federal employees—including judges, court staff, and prison officials—received a brief email asking them to list about five things they accomplished last week and to copy their manager. The deadline was set for 11:59 p.m. Monday, but the email didn’t include Musk’s original warning about resignations for non-compliance.
Some agencies quickly told their employees they didn’t need to respond if they received the message. For example, the State Department informed employees that the department would handle the response and that employees didn’t need to report to anyone outside their own chain of command.
The move caused chaos across various federal agencies, including the National Weather Service, the State Department, and the federal court system. Officials scrambled to verify whether the request was legitimate and instructed employees not to respond in some cases.
This latest directive comes after a significant number of federal workers were either fired or offered buyouts under the Trump administration. The administration has also been pushing for “large-scale reductions in force” and freezing trillions in federal grant funds. While exact numbers are unclear, the cuts have affected hundreds of thousands of workers, especially those outside of Washington, D.C. The Departments of Veterans Affairs, Defense, Health and Human Services, the IRS, and the National Parks Service have all seen significant layoffs.
Labor union leaders wasted no time criticizing the move, with AFGE President Everett Kelley calling it a sign of Trump and Musk’s “utter disdain for federal employees.” Kelley slammed the demand as “cruel and disrespectful,” especially for veterans working in federal service.
Meanwhile, Musk celebrated his new role at a conservative gathering, waving a giant chainsaw around and calling it his “chainsaw for bureaucracy,” claiming, “Waste is pretty much everywhere” in the federal government.
The Office of Personnel Management confirmed Musk’s directive, but said each agency would decide on the next steps. When asked what happens if someone is on vacation or leave, a spokesperson said individual agencies would determine the course of action.
Some federal court officials, who had also received the email, instructed their staff not to respond, clarifying that it wasn’t from the Judiciary and advising no action be taken. This isn’t the first time this has happened—judges received similar emails back in January, which were later recognized as mistakes.
Even the National Weather Service sent out a message telling employees not to respond to the emails until their authenticity was verified, acknowledging the confusion.
Through all of this, federal employees are trying to stay focused on their jobs, despite the disruption from this latest directive.
