Elon Musk has threatened to fire federal workers who fail to reply to a second government-wide email about their weekly tasks, intensifying his cost-cutting push under President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Elon Musk’s February 23, 2025 ultimatum has stirred confusion and pushback.
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.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 22, 2025Musk, a special adviser leading Trump’s efficiency drive, doubled down on X: “No response to the next email means termination, subject to the president’s discretion.” The initial email, sent Saturday by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), asked 2.4 million federal employees for five bullet points on last week’s work. A midnight deadline loomed, but OPM clarified Monday that agency heads—not Musk—decide penalties, exempting many, including himself.
Emails to federal government employees have begun to hit in-boxes; Musk says failure to respond will be considered resignation — CBS pic.twitter.com/NLAI6bHT2f
— NewsWire (@NewsWire_US) February 22, 2025OPM’s memo spares employees on leave without email access or exempted by agencies like Defense, State, and the FBI. Musk’s White House role also excludes him under the Presidential Records Act. Critics, including unions and Democrats, decry his tactics, while even Trump allies in government resist, highlighting a power struggle between DOGE and agency leaders.
Read: Musk’s Job Justification Demand Adds to Chaos in Trump Administration
Trump praised Musk’s effort, saying, “It’s genius—some don’t even show up, and nobody knows they’re there.” Yet, as Musk pushes to slash the federal workforce, tensions rise over his aggressive approach.
