Elon Musk, who recently threatened federal workers with termination if they did not respond to an email asking what work they completed in the last week, said Monday workers who did not reply will get another chance to do so at President Donald Trump’s “discretion”—the latest development over the emails after a growing number of agency heads, including Kash Patel and Tulsi Gabbard, told their employees not to respond.
Elon Musk speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on February 20, 2025 in Oxon ... [+]
Musk said “subject to the discretion of the President,” federal workers who did not respond to the check-in email will get another chance to respond, adding failure to do so would result in being fired.
The Trump administration informed federal agencies it is now “voluntary” for employees to respond to Musk’s email and they will not be fired if they don’t respond, according to The New York Times, with Politico reporting workers are now directed to defer to their individual agency’s guidance on whether to respond (Musk previously said any non-responses will be treated as resignations).
Trump defended the email plan in comments to reporters from the Oval Office, saying he “thought it was great” and “there was a lot of genius in sending it” and repeating unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the federal workforce, claiming, “A lot of people aren’t answering [the email] because they don’t even exist.”
The president also downplayed the agencies—like the FBI and Office of the Director of National Intelligence—directing their employees not to respond, claiming those emails are being sent “in a friendly manner” in agencies where employees deal with particularly sensitive information, and telling reporters that officials who tell their workers to ignore the letter “don’t mean that in any way combatively with Elon.”
The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service directed employees to respond to Musk’s email, multiple outlets reported, writing to workers, “Given the voluminous and extremely important work that Treasury staff perform on a daily basis, we expect that compliance will not be difficult or time-consuming.”
More than 100 House Democrats sent a letter to 24 federal agency heads, calling on them to “take immediate action to clarify that the federal employees at your agency are not obligated to respond to this ill conceived email stunt”—though the letter was sent to some agencies that reportedly have already directed their staff not to respond, such as the Departments of Defense, State and Homeland Security.
The Department of Transportation, led by Secretary Sean Duffy, ordered its employees to respond to Trump’s email, according to CNN, saying in an email Monday that workers should “include a bulleted list of approximately five accomplishments”—even after the union representing air traffic controllers, who were included in the agency’s directive, told CNN Saturday the email was “an unnecessary distraction to a fragile system.”
Musk doubled down on the need to respond to his email, posting on X, “Those who do not take this email seriously will soon be furthering their career elsewhere”—hours after he posted early Monday that the “mess” over the email “will get sorted out this week,” adding, “Lot of people in for a rude awakening and a strong dose of reality.”
Labor unions who were already suing the Trump administration over mass firings of federal employees filed an amended complaint that added a challenge to Musk’s email, arguing the Office of Personnel Management’s request for workers to respond to the email or face termination does not follow proper government procedures.
The Department of Homeland Security, led by Trump ally Kristi Noem, became the latest major agency to direct its workers not to respond to Musk’s email, reportedly writing, “No reporting action is needed from you at this time.”
The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union representing federal workers, announced it sent a letter to the Office of Personnel Management chastising it for sending Musk’s directive to federal workers; the union decried the Musk directive as “plainly unlawful” and said it does not believe there’s any authority requiring workers to respond to it, arguing the message left federal workers “feeling undervalued and intimidated” and that by issuing it, OPM was “actively pulling federal employees away from their critical duties without regard for the consequences.”
The Department of Defense—led by Secretary of Defense and former Fox News host Pete Hegseth—and the federal judiciary are also among those directing employees not to respond to the email, reports published Sunday indicate, with The New York Times reporting Tulsi Gabbard, head of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, also told staffers not to respond given the “inherently sensitive and classified nature of our work.”
Musk defended the email to federal workers on X as a “very basic pulse check” and claimed his directive is necessary because he “believe[s] non-existent people or the identities of dead people are being used to collect paychecks,” which he did not provide any evidence to support.
Reports emerged throughout Saturday evening of agencies sending emails telling their employees not to respond to Musk’s request, including the State Department, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, some Justice Department leaders and the FBI, with director Patel—a Trump ally—telling employees to “pause” responding to the email and saying the agency “is in charge of all of our review processes,” according to an email shared by NBC News.
Emails were sent out to federal workers with the subject line “What did you do last week?”—with The Wall Street Journal reporting Musk and his team initially conceived of the plan, and then sent it to the Office of Personnel Management to send the actual emails to approximately 2 million workers.
Musk tweeted that in “compliance with [President Donald Trump’s] instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” adding, “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
Trump posted on Truth Social saying Musk “IS DOING A GREAT JOB, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET MORE AGGRESSIVE.”
Musk’s email gives federal employees until 11:59 p.m. Monday to respond with five bullet points describing what they accomplished over the past week.
High-ranking officials at the following agencies have sent messages to employees directing them not to respond to Musk’s email, according to multiple reports: the FBI, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Defense, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, U.S. Courts System, State Department, Department of Energy, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice. That’s despite the fact that those agencies are largely run by key Trump allies, including Patel, Rubio, Noem, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Attorney General Pam Bondi. There was some confusion at the Justice Department, where Bloomberg reported multiple high-level officials directed employees not to respond to the email. When asked for comment, however, an unnamed Justice Department spokesperson claimed, “The opposite is true—DOJ has sent guidance that employees should respond,” but the agency then followed up Monday with an email directing employees not to respond, per CNN. Some employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were directed not to reply Saturday because the agency was trying to determine if the email was a “phishing attempt,” The Washington Post reported, and the National Science Foundation told employees it was “seeking guidance” and would provide updated information Monday. Parts of NASA were initially told to respond to the email, the Post reports, but then directed to draft an email but not send it yet after a different NASA division told workers to hold off on replying. Officials at the National Security Agency were also told that responding to the email could risk accidentally disclosing classified information, The New York Times reported.
Musk said on X early Sunday he had already received “a large number of good responses” to the email from federal workers, though it’s unclear which agencies any employees responding to his request may work for. In addition to the Department of Transportation and Treasury Department, the Times reports the General Services Administration and the Office of Management and Budget have also directed staffers to respond. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency employees were also told to respond, the Post reports, and Secret Service Secret Service staffers were directed to submit a form response that states in part, “This week I accomplished: 100% of the tasks and duties required of me by my position description” and “100% of the work product that my manager and I have agreed to.” Workers at the National Resources Conservation Service were also directed to respond, according to Lawfare, with an official saying staffers should “simply answer the request” because they should not need “prodding” to “highlight how we help farmers and ranchers.” While the Justice Department has gone back and forth on employees responding, Ed Martin, the U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C., and a loyal Trump ally, also told employees Saturday the office is “happy to participate” and they should “respond to the HR email carefully with regard to confidentiality and our duties,” as quoted by Bloomberg. On Sunday, however, the AP reports Martin sent a follow up message, saying employees should make a “good faith effort to reply” but also writing, “Let me clarify: We will comply with this OPM request whether by replying or deciding not to reply.”
Musk’s email directs staffers not to disclose any classified information, but experts have still warned that a mass number of government workers emailing about their workload could pose security risks. Intelligence officials cited by The Times noted any adversary who gained access to the email system with responses to the email could be able to “piece together sensitive details or learn about projects that were supposed to remain secret” by seeing so much information about employees’ work all at once, even if no classified information was directly shared. Many federal employees are also bound by rules that bar them from sharing information about their work with any third parties without explicit authorization, the Post notes.
While they haven’t been outspoken against the email request—as Democrats have—even some GOP lawmakers have expressed reservations about Musk directing federal employees to respond to his email or else resign. Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., told ABC News on Sunday he doesn’t know how Musk’s proposal to fire any employees who don’t respond is “necessarily feasible,” noting, “Obviously, a lot of federal employees are under union contract.” Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, also told the Associated Press, “If I could say one thing to Elon Musk, it’s like, please put a dose of compassion in this.” Federal workers “are real people. These are real lives. These are mortgages,” Curtis said. “It’s a false narrative to say we have to cut and you have to be cruel to do it as well.” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who’s previously criticized Musk’s cuts to the federal workforce, slammed the email in a post Sunday afternoon, writing, “Our public workforce deserves to be treated with dignity and respect for the unheralded jobs they perform. The absurd weekend email to justify their existence wasn’t it.”
While the administration is now reportedly telling agencies that responding to the email is voluntary, it remains to be seen what will happen after Monday’s deadline for those who don’t respond. The Office of Personnel Management has also faced recent staff cuts, the Journal notes, and it’s not clear how quickly the agency will logistically be able to go through all the emails it receives and determine which workers didn’t respond. Musk would be all but certain to face legal challenges from workers or labor unions if he moved forward with efforts to terminate employees, with AFGE leader Everett Kelley saying Saturday the union “will challenge any unlawful terminations of our members and federal employees across the country.” The Times notes it’s unclear what legal authority Musk would have to fire any employees for not responding to the email, with NPR pointing out many federal employees also have civil service protections that bar them from being fired without just cause. The publication also noted Musk’s email appears to conflict with previous OPM guidance saying responding to mass government emails is voluntary, which the Trump administration imposed in response to a lawsuit challenging a previous mass email.
Musk’s broad directive to federal employees and purported authority to terminate anyone who doesn’t respond to his email—along with Trump’s post directing Musk to be more “aggressive”—runs contrary to what the administration’s lawyers are arguing in court. The Trump administration has been fighting a lawsuit challenging Musk’s authority, as a coalition of Democratic state attorneys general claim the Tesla CEO is an “agent of chaos” who is exercising broad control over the federal government without the proper legal authority to do so. Trump administration lawyers have responded to those allegations by downplaying Musk’s authority and alleging he does not have the power the AGs claim, repeatedly arguing in court filings and hearings that Musk has no “formal or actual authority to make any government decisions himself.” Trump lawyers have also tried to distance Musk from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that Trump tapped him to lead, claiming in a filing that Musk is not an “employee of the U.S. DOGE Service” and doesn’t serve as the head of the agency.
Musk’s directive to federal employees is part of a broader effort by the billionaire and his DOGE officials to make dramatic cuts to the federal workforce. It comes as agencies across the government have reported mass layoffs—some of which have had to be reversed—and after Musk and the Trump administration offered federal employees buyouts if they voluntarily resigned from their jobs. Musk’s DOGE is aimed at targeting purported “waste” throughout the federal government, which has drawn widespread controversy as the Trump administration has made broad cuts to federal spending in addition to the staff reductions. DOGE has also drawn criticism for attempting to access sensitive government information systems at various agencies, and numerous lawsuits have been filed challenging DOGE’s authority, which has resulted in several rulings limiting officials’ access to sensitive information.