On Monday, President Donald Trump expressed his support for a massive measure taken by Elon Musk to reduce the size of the federal government, tasking all federal employees with explaining their job and accomplishments in an email or risk getting fired.

As the Associated Press reports, President Trump made his remarks from the Oval Office during his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, after reporters asked him about Musk’s latest decision.

“What he’s doing is saying, ‘Are you actually working?’” President Trump explained. “And then, if you don’t answer, like, you’re sort of semi-fired or you’re fired, because a lot of people aren’t answering because they don’t even exist.”

Musk, who was designated by President Trump as head of the newly-established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has been tasked with slashing the federal government by cutting wasteful spending, redundant federal jobs, and even abolishing entire agencies that are determined to be unnecessary.

Musk’s latest demand ordered all federal employees to send an email explaining five things they had accomplished in their roles within the last week, and to send their emails by 11:59 PM on Monday night.

“All federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk declared, warning that “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”

“Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance,” Musk clarified in a post on X. “Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.”

The announcement from Musk led to renewed litigation by disgruntled federal workers, with the State Democracy Defenders Fund filing a lawsuit in California claiming that Musk’s directive was in violation of federal law. The suit described his order as “one of the most massive employment frauds in the history of this country.”

Despite efforts by the mainstream media to portray a growing rift between President Trump and Musk over the latter’s government-cutting actions, the 45th and 47th president has repeatedly defended Musk, saying that he believed the email directive “was a pretty ingenious idea.” In a separate post on his Truth Social website, President Trump admitted that “Elon is doing a great job, but I would like to see him get more aggressive.”