Musk orders all federal workers to justify their jobs or lose them
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An e-mail was sent to all federal workers asking them to outline what they have achieved over the last week, or face termination.
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Elon Musk speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, on Thursday, February 20, 2025. (AP)
Elon Musk announced on Saturday that all federal workers will be sent an e-mail to justify their jobs or face termination if they fail to respond, in a post on X.
Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 22, 2025
Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.
Musk said the email would be sent to all federal employees. According to a copy obtained by AFP, the email required the employees to outline what they had done last week in approximately five bullet points.
The e-mail was sent by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) with the subject line "What did you do last week?" and the deadline is 11:59 PM Monday, failing to note that failure to answer the e-mail can lead to termination.
The initiative faced backlash from the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).
"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 AFGE president Everett Kelley.
Prior to Musk's announcement, Trump encouraged Musk to become more aggressive in a post on Truth Social, saying, "Musk is doing a great job, but I would like to see him get more aggressive."
DOGE intensifies efforts
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was founded in November 2024, in a bid to dismantle bureaucratic red tape, cut excessive regulations, eliminate wasteful spending, and restructure federal agencies.
DOGE exaggerated its savings according to an analysis of documents by The Washington Post which revealed that 417 contracts were already completed and paid for, while another 51 contracts yielded less than 1 million dollars in savings, making the real number closer to $9.3 billion instead of $55 billion.
Around 9,500 federal workers were dismissed across several US departments on February 14; Between 1,200 and 2,000 in the Department of Energy, 2,300 employees in the Department of Interior, 1,300 employees from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as additional layoffs in the Departments of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs and Education.
75,000 federal workers signed up to Trump's buyout plan, which promises each employee who voluntarily resigns eight months' of salaries without requiring to work, a plan that a federal judge approved on February 13.
The plan was originally delayed after Federal Worker Unions sued to stop the program after warning government employees that the plan is not trustworthy as spending laws expire on March 14th, and no assurances were given that salaries would continue beyond that date.
