Federal Workers Ordered to Justify Their Jobs or Resign as Musk and Trump Push for Government Overhaul
In a controversial move, U.S. federal employees received an email on Saturday demanding they list their accomplishments for the past week—or risk being considered as having resigned. The directive follows a post by billionaire Elon Musk on X, where he warned that employees would soon receive an email asking them to justify their work.
Accountability or Mass Firings?
Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), has spearheaded efforts to downsize the federal workforce through aggressive spending cuts and job terminations.
The email, sent with the subject line “What did you do last week?” from a sender labeled HR, requested employees to submit a five-bullet-point summary of their achievements by midnight on Monday, CC’ing their managers. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) later confirmed the email’s authenticity, stating that agencies would decide on “next steps.”
While Musk explicitly stated on X that failure to respond would be seen as a resignation, the email itself did not confirm this.
Unions Condemned the Move
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest federal employee union, condemned the directive as “cruel and disrespectful.” AFGE President Everett Kelley criticized Musk and the Trump administration, vowing to challenge any unlawful terminations.
“Once again, Elon Musk and the Trump administration have shown their utter disdain for federal employees and the critical services they provide,”
Kelley stated.
FBI Pushes Back
Newly confirmed FBI Director Kash Patel instructed bureau employees to ignore the directive for now. In an internal email obtained by CBS News, Patel told staff to “pause any responses” until further review. He emphasized that the FBI would handle its own review processes internally.
Trump Applauds Cuts
Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday, Trump defended the directive, arguing that too many federal employees work remotely and contribute little.
“We’re removing all of the unnecessary, incompetent, and corrupt bureaucrats from the federal workforce,”
Trump told supporters.
“We want a smaller, more efficient government, and we’re keeping only the best people.”
The White House has given Musk broad authority to implement sweeping changes to the federal structure. In recent weeks, mass layoffs have hit agencies including the IRS, the Pentagon, and the FAA.
A Repeat of Twitter?
Musk’s latest move mirrors his management style at Twitter (now X) after acquiring the platform in 2022. He famously issued an ultimatum demanding employees commit to an “extremely hardcore” work ethic or resign—leading to a drastic reduction in staff.
Trump has repeatedly praised Musk’s approach, calling it a “great job” and urging him to be even “more aggressive” in cutting government jobs.
As federal workers scramble to submit their reports, everyone watches to see whether this radical shake-up will bring efficiency or chaos to government operations.
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