A Pentagon official slammed the email as the ‘silliest thing in 40 years’
Elon Musk has revealed why he sent all federal workers an email with an ultimatum over the weekend in a move critics said was ‘silly’.
Musk, who runs the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) task force that is on a mission to cut government costs, sent federal staff a rather unusual email on Saturday (February 22) with an ultimatum that suggested workers who fail to respond wouldn’t have a job to return to.
Musk’s email demanded federal staffers list five tasks they completed in the last week by 11.59pm on Monday – or resign, which sent the workforce into a panic over the weekend.
Donald Trump explains how he hired Elon Musk
Credit: Fox News
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Writing on Twitter, he said workers were expected to share ‘what they got done last week’ and failure to respond ‘will be taken as resignation.’
The government’s HR agency, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) confirmed the email was legitimate in a statement to CBS.
According to the BBC, employees were asked to list their accomplishments in five bullet points and one Pentagon official reportedly told CNN it was ‘the silliest thing I’ve seen in 40 years and completely usurps the chain of command.’
Some key US departments also reportedly instructed staff not to comply with Musk’s demands, but the Tesla founder and SpaceX CEO said on Twitter he had already received a ‘large number of good responses’ as of Sunday (February 23), adding: “These are the people who should be considered for promotion.”
Musk has revealed the real reason why he sent the email on Saturday (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The action came as president Donald Trump ordered Musk, dubbed his ‘First Buddy’, to ‘get more aggressive’ last week.
Now, the billionaire tech mogul has lifted the lid on the real reason why he sent the controversial demanding email.
Musk said on Twitter he sent the command to ‘see who had a pulse and two working neurons.’
He also claimed government workers don’t even check their emails, implying that the task was more about who was checking in and bothered to reply rather than the contents of their response.
Musk wrote: “This was basically a check to see if the employee had a pulse and was capable of replying to an email.
“Lot of people in for a rude awakening and strong dose of reality. They don’t get it yet, but they will,” Musk concluded.
FBI Director Kash Patel told his team not to reply (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Yet, several department leaders advised their staff not to obey the order, with newly appointed FBI boss Kash Patel telling his team to hang fire as well as intelligence chief, Tulsi Gabbard, instructing staff to ignore it.
Patel’s message read: “FBI personnel may have received an email from OMP requesting information,. The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all our review processes, and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures.”
“For now, please pause any responses,” his email concluded.
Meanwhile, Gabbard said to staff: “Given the inherently sensitive and classified nature of our work, I.C. employees should not respond to the OPM email.”
Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, also advised staff to disregard Musk’s email (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Department of Homeland Security Chief Kristi Noem also told their teams to disregard the email, The Daily Mail.
However, Musk said anyone who shares the attitude of the Pentagon insider ‘needs to look for a new job.’
DOGE claims it has spared $55 billion from the budget through cost-cutting initiatives so far, like canceling contracts and leases, selling assets and detecting fraud across governmental departments from education, personnel management and health and human services to agriculture and international development.
Donald Trump instructs Elon Musk to ‘get more aggressive’ in bizarre post amid sending all federal employees the same email
Musk said all federal workers had received an email asking what they had achieved this week
Donald Trump has instructed Elon Musk to ‘get more aggressive’ after all federal workers received the same email earlier this week.
In a post on X, Trump wrote: “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!”
In response, Musk said: “Will do, Mr. President!”
Donald Trump explains how he hired Elon Musk
People were confused over the tweet, with one person commenting: “Why’d he have to put that out on social media instead of just talking to you, Elon?”
While another said: “MORE AGGRESSIVE!?”
And a third added: “Take it easy. Give people time to process!!!”
On Saturday (February 22), Musk – who is head of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – announced that federal workers had received an email asking them to account for what they had done in the last week – or resign.
Writing on X, he said that workers would ‘shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week’.
“Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation,” he added.
Trump told Musk to be ‘more aggressive’ (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The government’ s HR agency, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) confirmed the email was legitimate in a statement to CBS.
“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,” it said.
“Agencies will determine any next steps.”
According to the BBC, employees were asked to list their accomplishments in five bullet points.
In response, Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees said: “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.”
