A lawsuit filed Monday accuses Elon Musk of violating federal law by demanding to know what government employees accomplished or risk being terminated, as agency workers were left wondering if they should comply or hold off.
An amended complaint, filed in California on behalf of federal workers and shown to The Associated Press, takes exception with a Saturday email from the Office of Personnel Management demanding a list of five things they did last week.
“No OPM rule, regulation, policy, or program has ever, in United States history, purported to require all federal workers to submit reports to OPM,” the complaint led by the State Democracy Defenders Fund says.
The revised complaint is part of a broader lawsuit that seeks to stave off mass layoffs in the federal workforce led by Mr. Musk, a tech billionaire whom President Trump named to find federal savings through the Department of Government Efficiency.
The plaintiffs say the mass firings “represent one of the most massive employment frauds in the history of this country.”
Many parts of the Trump administration weren’t even complying with Mr. Musk’s new directive as of Monday, or at least were trying to figure out what to do.
Leaders at the Pentagon, the State Department, Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said that workers did not need to respond and managers would handle the situation.
FBI Director Kash Patel had led the refusal by directing bureau staff to ignore the request.
The Department of Health and Human Services initially told employees to respond on Sunday but then told them to hold off, according to multiple media reports.
Mr. Musk, head of DOGE, issued the justify-your-job ultimatum Saturday, soon after the president encouraged him to be more “aggressive” in his cost-cutting efforts.
“Consistent with President [Trump’s] instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Mr. Musk posted on X. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
OPM emailed federal employees shortly after Mr. Musk’s tweet with the subject line “What did you do last week?”
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The directive split Capitol Hill Republicans. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska urged Mr. Musk to treat federal workers with more respect, while Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio said it was not unreasonable to request information about federal workers’ performance.
More broadly, the speed of Mr. Musk’s cuts and firings is winning praise from some GOP quarters but making many Americans and some Republican lawmakers uneasy.
The American Federation of Government Employees said that with the OPM email, “Elon Musk and the Trump Administration have shown their utter disdain for federal employees and the critical services they provide to the American people.”
For his part, Mr. Trump is cheering on Mr. Musk.
“Elon is doing a great job, but I would like to see him get more aggressive,” he posted in all caps on Truth Social. “Remember, we have a country to save, but ultimately, to make greater than ever before. MAGA!”
• Alex Miller and Seth McLaughlin contributed to this report.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.