Topline
Companies and staff all through the federal authorities face a Monday deadline for billionaire Elon Musk’s directive to answer an e-mail asking what they did over the previous week, or else be fired, organising a showdown as an growing variety of Trump-appointed company heads—just like the FBI’s Kash Patel—direct their staff to not reply.
Elon Musk speaks on the Conservative Political Motion Convention (CPAC) on February 20, 2025 in Oxon … [+]
Timeline
Greater than 100 Home Democrats sent a letter to 24 federal company heads, calling on them to “take speedy motion to make clear that the federal staff at your company usually are not obligated to answer this in poor health conceived e-mail stunt”—although the letter was despatched to some businesses that reportedly have already directed their workers to not reply, such because the Departments of Protection, State and Homeland Safety.
The Division of Transportation, led by Secretary Sean Duffy, ordered its staff to answer Trump’s e-mail, in keeping with CNN, saying in an e-mail Monday that staff ought to “embrace a bulleted checklist of roughly 5 accomplishments”—even after the union representing air site visitors controllers, who have been included within the company’s directive, advised CNN Saturday the e-mail was “an pointless distraction to a fragile system.”
Musk doubled down on the necessity to answer his e-mail, posting on X, “Those that don’t take this e-mail critically will quickly be furthering their profession elsewhere”—hours after he posted early Monday that the “mess” over the e-mail “will get sorted out this week,” including, “Lot of individuals in for a impolite awakening and a robust dose of actuality.”
Labor unions who have been already suing the Trump administration over mass firings of federal staff filed an amended complaint that added a problem to Musk’s e-mail, arguing the Workplace of Personnel Administration’s request for staff to answer the e-mail or face termination doesn’t observe correct authorities procedures.
The Division of Homeland Safety, led by Trump ally Kristi Noem, became the most recent main company to direct its staff not to answer Musk’s e-mail, reportedly writing, “No reporting motion is required from you at the moment.”
The American Federation of Authorities Staff, the most important union representing federal staff, announced it despatched a letter to the Workplace of Personnel Administration chastising it for sending Musk’s directive to federal staff; the union decried the Musk directive as “plainly illegal” and mentioned it doesn’t consider there’s any authority requiring staff to answer it, arguing the message left federal staff “feeling undervalued and intimidated” and that by issuing it, OPM was “actively pulling federal staff away from their essential duties with out regard for the results.”
The Department of Defense—led by Secretary of Protection and former Fox Information host Pete Hegseth—and the federal judiciary are additionally amongst these directing staff not to answer the e-mail, experiences revealed Sunday point out, with The New York Instances reporting Tulsi Gabbard, head of the Workplace of the Director of Nationwide Intelligence, additionally advised staffers to not reply given the “inherently delicate and categorised nature of our work.”
Musk defended the e-mail to federal staff on X as a “very primary pulse examine” and claimed his directive is critical as a result of he “consider[s] non-existent folks or the identities of lifeless individuals are getting used to gather paychecks,” which he didn’t present any proof to help.
Studies emerged all through Saturday night of businesses sending emails telling their staff not to answer Musk’s request, together with the State Department, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, some Justice Department leaders and the FBI, with director Patel—a Trump ally—telling staff to “pause” responding to the e-mail and saying the company “is in control of all of our overview processes,” in keeping with an email shared by NBC Information.
Emails have been despatched out to federal staff with the topic line “What did you do final week?”—with The Wall Road Journal reporting Musk and his crew initially conceived of the plan, after which despatched it to the Workplace of Personnel Administration to ship the precise emails to roughly 2 million staff.
Musk tweeted that in “compliance with [President Donald Trump’s] directions, all federal staff will shortly obtain an e-mail requesting to grasp what they bought executed final week,” including, “Failure to reply shall be taken as a resignation.”
Trump posted on Reality Social saying Musk “IS DOING A GREAT JOB, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET MORE AGGRESSIVE.”
When Do Staff Have To Reply By?
Musk’s e-mail offers federal staff till 11:59 p.m. Monday to reply with 5 bullet factors describing what they completed over the previous week.
Which Companies Are Directing Staff Not To Reply To Elon Musk?
Excessive-ranking officers on the following businesses have despatched messages to staff directing them not to answer Musk’s e-mail, according to multiple reports: the FBI, Division of Well being and Human Companies, Division of Protection, Workplace of the Director of Nationwide Intelligence, U.S. Courts System, State Division, Division of Vitality, Division of Homeland Safety and Division of Justice. That’s although these businesses are largely run by key Trump allies, together with Patel, Rubio, Noem, Well being Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi. Some staff on the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have been directed to not reply Saturday as a result of the company was making an attempt to find out if the e-mail was a “phishing try,” The Washington Put up reports, and the Nationwide Science Basis advised staff it was “looking for steering” and would supply up to date data Monday. Elements of NASA have been initially advised to answer the e-mail, the Put up experiences, however then directed to draft an e-mail however not ship it but after a unique NASA division advised staff to carry off on replying. Officers on the Nationwide Safety Company have been additionally advised that responding to the e-mail might threat by chance disclosing categorised data, The New York Instances reports.
Which Companies Are Directing Staff To Reply To Elon Musk?
Musk said on X early Sunday he had already obtained “a lot of good responses” to the e-mail from federal staff, although it’s unclear which businesses any staff responding to his request may fit for. Along with the Division of Transportation, the Put up experiences officers on the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Safety Company and Secret Service have directed staff to reply, with Secret Service staffers submitting a type response that states partially, “This week I completed: 100% of the duties and duties required of me by my place description” and “100% of the work product that my supervisor and I’ve agreed to.” Staff on the Nationwide Assets Conservation Service have been additionally directed to reply, in keeping with Lawfare, with an official saying staffers ought to “merely reply the request” as a result of they need to not want “prodding” to “spotlight how we assist farmers and ranchers.” There’s additionally been some confusion on the Justice Division, the place Bloomberg reports a number of high-level officers directed staff not to answer the e-mail. When requested for remark, nonetheless, an unnamed Justice Division spokesperson claimed, “The other is true—DOJ has despatched steering that staff ought to reply.” Ed Martin, the U.S. Legal professional in Washington, D.C., and a loyal Trump ally, additionally advised staff Saturday the workplace is “comfortable to take part” and they need to “reply to the HR e-mail fastidiously with regard to confidentiality and our duties,” as quoted by Bloomberg. On Sunday, nonetheless, the AP reports Martin despatched a observe up message, saying staff ought to make a “good religion effort to answer” but in addition writing, “Let me make clear: We’ll adjust to this OPM request whether or not by replying or deciding to not reply.”
What Are The Dangers Of Responding To The Electronic mail?
Musk’s e-mail directs staffers to not disclose any categorised data, however specialists have nonetheless warned {that a} mass variety of authorities staff emailing about their workload might pose safety dangers. Intelligence officers cited by The Instances famous any adversary who gained entry to the e-mail system with responses to the e-mail might have the ability to “piece collectively delicate particulars or study tasks that have been supposed to stay secret” by seeing a lot details about staff’ work suddenly, even when no categorised data was straight shared. Many federal staff are additionally sure by guidelines that bar them from sharing details about their work with any third events with out specific authorization, the Put up notes.
How Are Republicans Responding To Elon Musk’s Directive?
Whereas they haven’t been outspoken in opposition to the e-mail request—as Democrats have—even some GOP lawmakers have expressed reservations about Musk directing federal staff to answer his e-mail or else resign. Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., told ABC Information on Sunday he doesn’t know the way Musk’s proposal to fireplace any staff who don’t reply is “essentially possible,” noting, “Clearly, numerous federal staff are underneath union contract.” Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, additionally told the Related Press, “If I might say one factor to Elon Musk, it’s like, please put a dose of compassion on this.” Federal staff “are actual folks. These are actual lives. These are mortgages,” Curtis mentioned. “It’s a false narrative to say we have now to chop and you must be merciless to do it as effectively.” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who’s beforehand criticized Musk’s cuts to the federal workforce, slammed the e-mail in a post Sunday afternoon, writing, “Our public workforce deserves to be handled with dignity and respect for the unheralded jobs they carry out. The absurd weekend e-mail to justify their existence wasn’t it.”
Can Elon Musk Fireplace Federal Staff For Not Responding To His Electronic mail?
It’s nonetheless unclear what’s going to occur after Monday to any staff who haven’t responded to Musk’s e-mail, together with in businesses the place they’ve been directed to not reply. The Workplace of Personnel Administration has additionally confronted latest workers cuts, the Journal notes, and it stays to be seen how shortly the company will logistically have the ability to undergo all of the emails it receives and decide which staff didn’t reply. Ought to Musk attempt to take away any federal staff for not being responsive, he’s all however sure to face authorized challenges from staff or labor unions, with AFGE chief Everett Kelley saying Saturday the union “will problem any illegal terminations of our members and federal staff throughout the nation.” The Instances notes it’s unclear what authorized authority Musk must fireplace any staff for not responding to the e-mail, with NPR stating many federal staff even have civil service protections that bar them from being fired with out simply trigger. The publication additionally famous Musk’s e-mail seems to battle with earlier OPM steering saying responding to mass authorities emails is voluntary, which the Trump administration imposed in response to a lawsuit difficult a earlier mass e-mail.
Contra
Musk’s broad directive to federal staff and purported authority to terminate anybody who doesn’t reply to his e-mail—together with Trump’s submit directing Musk to be extra “aggressive”—runs opposite to what the administration’s legal professionals are arguing in court. The Trump administration has been preventing a lawsuit difficult Musk’s authority, as a coalition of Democratic state attorneys normal declare the Tesla CEO is an “agent of chaos” who’s exercising broad management over the federal authorities with out the correct authorized authority to take action. Trump administration legal professionals have responded to these allegations by downplaying Musk’s authority and alleging he doesn’t have the facility the AGs declare, repeatedly arguing in courtroom filings and hearings that Musk has no “formal or precise authority to make any authorities choices himself.” Trump legal professionals have additionally tried to distance Musk from the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) that Trump tapped him to guide, claiming in a submitting that Musk will not be an “worker of the U.S. DOGE Service” and doesn’t function the top of the company.
Key Background
Musk’s directive to federal staff is a part of a broader effort by the billionaire and his DOGE officials to make dramatic cuts to the federal workforce. It comes as businesses throughout the federal government have reported mass layoffs—a few of which have needed to be reversed—and after Musk and the Trump administration provided federal staff buyouts in the event that they voluntarily resigned from their jobs. Musk’s DOGE is geared toward concentrating on purported “waste” all through the federal authorities, which has drawn widespread controversy because the Trump administration has made broad cuts to federal spending along with the workers reductions. DOGE has additionally drawn criticism for making an attempt to entry delicate authorities data techniques at varied businesses, and numerous lawsuits have been filed difficult DOGE’s authority, which has resulted in a number of rulings limiting officers’ entry to delicate data.
