Federal employees told to justify jobs in email or Musk says they face dismissal
In President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s latest move targeting the federal workforce, employees began receiving emails Saturday asking them to explain what work they did last week, as Musk announced that “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
“Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager. Please do not send any classified information, links, or attachments,” reads the email, which comes from the Office of Personnel Management’s HR email address but has no signature.
The email’s subject line reads: “What did you do last week?” CNN has obtained copies of emails sent to federal employees in multiple agencies. Many were sent with high importance or red exclamation marks.
The email blast came on the heels of a social media post by Musk threatening the jobs of workers who do not comply.
“Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk posted Saturday on X, hours after Trump suggested he be more “aggressive.”
However, the email itself does not state that failure to answer will be taken as resignation. It says the deadline for submission is Monday at 11:59 p.m. ET.
The email sent shockwaves through a federal workforce already reeling from an array of orders from the Trump administration, including the recent termination of thousands of employees on probationary status, a deferred resignation offer that many viewed as questionable and a requirement to return to the office full-time, among others.
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One president of a union chapter started getting texts from concerned members “nonstop” following Musk’s post and the OPM email.
“I don’t have any clue what in the world that email means either,” the union official told CNN, noting they are telling members to “just stand by until I advise otherwise.”
Some agencies have advised workers not yet to respond to the email — notably at agencies where much or all of employees’ duties may be sensitive.
FBI Director Kash Patel told bureau employees Saturday not to immediately respond to the OPM email.
In an email to bureau employees obtained by CNN, Patel said, “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. When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses.”
Patel’s email came after senior leaders at FBI’s NY field office and other divisions told their employees to not respond, a person briefed on the matter said.
Employees of the National Security Agency were also notified Saturday that they should hold off on responding until they receive further guidance from the Department of Defense.
And Ed Martin, interim US attorney for the District of Columbia, sent an email advising employees to “be general” in their responses if necessary and promising to protect them. “If anyone gives you problems, I’ve got your back,” Martin wrote.
The OPM email’s Monday deadline also raises questions about what happens to workers who are on vacation or sick leave, the official noted. “Are they subject to termination because they are not available to respond?”
Other workers have told CNN that they do classified work that they cannot divulge in an email or don’t have access to computers all the time, which could cause them to miss the deadline.
Another head of a union chapter told worried members not to respond to the email until Monday and to await further guidance from the union.
The head of a top union representing federal workers lambasted Musk’s ultimatum, telling CNN in a statement that it reflects the Trump administration’s “utter disdain for federal employees and the critical services they provide to the American people.”
“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,” said Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 800,000 federal workers.
Kelley said his union plans to take legal action to “challenge any unlawful terminations of our members and federal employees.”
Two other federal employee unions — the National Treasury Employees Union and the National Federation of Federal Employees — did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
One federal worker told CNN that they find the demand “insulting” and “absolutely mind-blowing,” especially considering their activity at work is already tracked.
“It’s callous and calculating and just another low-down tactic to get rid of employees they haven’t been able to touch yet,” the worker said of Musk’s post saying a non-response would be considered a resignation.
Another federal staffer told CNN that they feel compelled to reply.
“Personally, I’m afraid to not respond by the deadline based on Elon’s tweets that non-response would be considered a resignation,” said the worker, who noted that their friends at another agency “are on the fence on whether to respond with actual accomplishments or to respond with bullets of the oath we took to the Constitution.”
Trump has tapped Musk to reshape the federal government with his Department of Government Efficiency. But whether this latest move is legal is unclear.
Shortly after Musk’s post, Trump called the X owner a “patriot” and said he was “doing a great job” during remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Musk’s comments Saturday followed an earlier post from Trump suggesting he’d like to see the tech billionaire get more aggressive.
“ELON IS DOING A GREAT JOB, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET MORE AGGRESSIVE. REMEMBER, WE HAVE A COUNTRY TO SAVE, BUT ULTIMATELY, TO MAKE GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE. MAGA!” Trump’s post read. Musk replied, “Will do, Mr. President!” in his own post.
The emails come as Musk and Trump seek to reshape the federal workforce — including reducing its size, replacing career workers with political appointees, wiping away some civil service protections, ending diversity efforts and more.
This story has been updated with new reporting.
CNN’s Betsy Klein and Sean Lyngass contributed to this report.
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Trump administration asks all feds to justify their jobs or risk losing them
Employees were given a deadline of Monday at 11:59 p.m. ET to respond to the Trump administration emails asking them to recount what the did over the last week. WIN MCNAMEE/GETTY IMAGES
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Federal employees throughout the executive branch began receiving emails on Saturday asking them to explain what they accomplished in the last week, which followed a threat from Elon Musk that workers who do not respond would be considered to have resigned.
The subject of the email, which came from the same HR@OPM.gov email address that recently sent offers for federal employees to accept deferred resignations, asked employees “what did you do last week?”
“Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager,” the email said. “Please do not send any classified information, links or attachments.”
Employees were given a deadline of Monday at 11:59 p.m. ET to respond.
Musk warned the emails were coming Saturday afternoon, which included the resignation threat and suggested they were issued at President Trump’s direction. Several CEOs at technology companies have deployed similar strategies in recent years.
“Once again, Elon Musk and the Trump Administration have shown their utter disdain for federal employees and the critical services they provide to the American people,” said American Federation of Government Employees President Everett Kelley. “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.”
The emails themselves did not include the resignation threat. It is unclear how the federal government could force employees to resign, which by law must be a voluntary decision. AFGE vowed to challenge any “unlawful terminations” that federal employees face.
Employees were receiving the email on a staggered basis Saturday. The Office of Personnel Management previously testified in federal court it takes eight hours to deploy emails to the entire federal workforce of more than 2 million civil servants.
At least 20,000 federal employees have received termination notices in recent weeks as the Trump administration has fired—mostly recently hired—employees in their probationary periods. It is also threatening widespread layoffs across government, and has incentivized employees to leave through its deferred resignation program and early retirement offers.
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The employees impacted by Friday’s moves received reduction-in-force notices from acting OPM Director Charles Ezell. BRYAN DOZIER/MIDDLE EAST IMAGES/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
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The Office of Personnel Management is laying off its entire procurement team as the federal government’s human resources agency continues to reduce its footprint.
Employees were informed Friday that their positions were being “abolished” and they would be separated from federal service in 60 days. The decision is separate from the ostensibly for-cause firings that OPM kicked off internally earlier this month and have subsequently swept up agencies throughout the government.
The employees impacted by Friday’s moves received reduction-in-force notices from acting OPM Director Charles Ezell, who said he was issuing the layoffs due to three separate executive orders issued by President Trump.
“It is with great regret that I must inform you that your position of Procurement Analyst is being abolished, and you have been reached for release in the reduction in for action,” Ezell wrote in the notices.
He added the employees “do not have an assignment right to another position in your competitive area” and therefore would be separated from federal service on April 23.
The employees will receive severance pay, according to the notice, as is standard in federal RIF procedures.
One employee impacted by the layoffs told Government Executive the moves are part of an effort to fold some of OPM functions into the General Services Administration. In President Trump’s first term, he proposed merging the two agencies.
Earlier this month OPM also shuttered its communications office and placed all employees on administrative leave, including its web team, according to two sources familiar with the moves.
Trump earlier in February ordered federal agencies across government to develop new plans to implement widespread layoffs. Those plans have largely not yet been developed or implemented as federal offices are still finalizing the firings of their probationary staff, though agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service, Defense Department and others have made clear that RIFs are coming.
An impacted employee said 57 employees in the Office of Procurement Operations would be affected, though a few would be held on for longer to close out remaining work. The office’s work will be transferred to the General Services Administration, the employee said.
Office staff were warned on Thursday the layoffs may come, though management was not yet sure of the decision.
“Lots of crying, lots of stress, and a general numbness,” the employee said of the office’s reaction to the news. “It’s a gut punch to say the least.”
They added that the office supported functions throughout OPM—including human resources, training, communications, retirements and separations and health insurance benefits—and at other federal agencies.
“People will suffer and the job will not get done without our work,” they said. “There was no thought to this, it’s a clean cleaving of an entire function of an agency and the agency will not be able to function properly without it.”
The employees will be eligible to participate in the Reemployment Priority List and to participate in the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan, which helps laid off workers find other federal jobs, but the impacted staffer expressed pessimism the remote employees would be able to find open positions in their locations.
Employees were informed they can appeal the RIF to the Merit Systems Protection Board, Office of Special Counsel or the agency’s Equal Employment Opportunity office. Federal statute generally allows for RIFs when they are rooted in specific activities, such as a reorganization, a lack of work or a shortage of funds.
Speaking generally of the Trump administration’s RIF plans, Max Stier, president of the Partnership for Public Service, said he expects significant legal challenges to agency actions.
“If you look at their failure to understand and to use appropriate process in everything that has happened so far, if they follow that same playbook of mistakes, then yes, there will be, I think, quite a few challenges,” Steir said.
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Employees throughout government are receiving emails asking them what they did last week.
“The job will not get done without our work,” one laid off employee said.
Elon Musk says federal workers must justify their work — or resign
Elon Musk says federal workers must justify their work — or resign
Billionaire Elon Musk issued an ultimatum to federal employees Saturday, saying in a post on his social media platform X that employees must respond to an email justifying the work they completed this week or resign.
Federal employees have already begun receiving an email asking to summarize their work, sources familiar with the matter told NBC News, though unlike Musk’s post, it does not explicitly threaten a forced resignation.
The email, sent from the Office of Personnel Management and shared with NBC News, asked employees to send approximately five bullet points listing what they accomplished this week, CC’ing their managers. The email requested that employees not send any classified information, links or attachments and said employees must respond by a deadline of Monday at 11:59 p.m. ET.
“Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation,” Musk wrote.
OPM spokesperson McLaurine Pineover said in a statement to NBC News that the office is requesting employees summarize their work.
“As part of the Trump Administration’s commitment to an efficient and accountable federal workforce, OPM is asking employees to provide a brief summary of what they did last week by the end of Monday, CC’ing their manager. Agencies will determine any next steps,” Pineover wrote.
In a sign that not every Trump official is on the same page with Musk’s productivity inquiry, FBI Director Kash Patel has instructed employees to “pause any responses” to the email asking federal employees what they accomplished last week. Patel said the FBI will review the work of its own employees in accordance with its own procedures.
Everett Kelley, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, condemned Musk and the Trump administration for the email Saturday, vowing to challenge “unlawful terminations” of the union’s members and federal employees across the country.
“Once again, Elon Musk and the Trump Administration have shown their utter disdain for federal employees and the critical services they provide to the American people,” Kelley said in a statement.
“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,” Kelley added.
A chapter representing National Treasury Employees Union members who work for the FDA’s headquarters “strongly” advised members not to respond, adding that the NTEU and its office of general counsel are “taking immediate action.”
“We work for HHS/FDA, not OPM: OPM directives that have not been formally adopted or communicated by our employer, the FDA, do not create an obligation for you to respond,” the NTEU chapter’s guidance said.
The email comes as Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency attempt to make sweeping cuts to the federal workforce, including mass federal layoffs, the accidental firing of Department of Agriculture officials who were working on the government’s response to the bird flu, and the attempts at dismantling of agencies such as USAID.
Over 3 million people were employed by the federal government as of November 2024, according to Pew Research Center.
Ryan J. Reilly is a justice reporter for NBC News.
Raquel Coronell Uribe is a breaking news reporter.
Ken Dilanian is the justice and intelligence correspondent for NBC News, based in Washington.
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