Elon Musk, acting as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and a senior adviser to President Donald Trump, issued a controversial directive over the weekend, demanding that all federal employees submit a list of their weekly accomplishments by Monday at midnight.
The email, sent through the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), came with a clear warning: failure to respond would be treated as a “resignation.”
“The bar is very low here,” Musk wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “An email with some bullet points that make any sense at all is acceptable! Should take less than 5 mins to write.”
Trump Backs Musk’s Federal Workforce Overhaul
President Trump has publicly supported Musk’s aggressive strategy for cutting the federal workforce, even encouraging him to take it further:
“ELON IS DOING A GREAT JOB, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET MORE AGGRESSIVE,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Musk’s directive is part of a larger push to streamline the federal government, with DOGE aiming to identify perceived inefficiencies and reduce government spending by cutting jobs across multiple agencies.
Federal Agencies Push Back Against Musk’s Mandate
Despite support from Trump, resistance is growing within the federal government. Several major agencies have instructed employees not to respond to Musk’s email:
- FBI: Director Kash Patel, a close Trump ally, told staff to “pause any responses” pending a review by internal procedures.
- State Department: Issued an internal message stating, “No employee is obligated to report their activities outside of their Department chain of command.”
- Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Pentagon: Also advised employees not to comply until further notice.
However, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., bucked the trend and instructed its 80,000 employees to comply with Musk’s directive, creating confusion and inconsistency across the federal workforce.
Legal and Ethical Challenges Ahead
Lawmakers from both parties have raised concerns about the legality of Musk’s directive:
- Federal employee unions are preparing lawsuits, claiming that the order could violate workplace protections and federal employment laws.
- Legal experts argue that forcing employees to submit personal productivity reports outside their departmental channels without congressional approval could breach established labor agreements.
Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) weighed in on the controversy during an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation:
“We don’t need to be so cold and hard; let’s put a little compassion and, quite frankly, dignity in this as well.”
Security Concerns: A 19-Year-Old Given Access to Classified Data
Further raising concerns about DOGE’s internal operations, reports have emerged that a 19-year-old staffer, nicknamed “Big Balls”, was allegedly given access to classified government data.
This revelation has sparked outrage among lawmakers and national security experts, who fear that granting sensitive information to inexperienced staffers could pose a significant security risk.
“This isn’t just about downsizing—it’s about safeguarding national security,” said a former intelligence official, speaking anonymously.
