Urged by US President Donald Trump to be “more aggressive” in cutting public spending, Elon Musk responded to the presidential injunction within hours on Saturday, February 22, by announcing on his social network X that “all federal employees” would “soon receive an email to understand what they did last week.”
“The absence of a response will be considered a resignation,” continued the richest man in the world on X, appointed by Donald Trump to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), responsible for cutting public spending in the United States.
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, 2025The subject line of the email is:
“What did you do last week?”
The email asks the employee to respond by Monday evening at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, describing five tasks completed in the previous week and copying their manager.
However, the email does not specify that if there is no response, the employee will lose his job. Elon Musk then seemed to back down, explaining, still on X, that the bar was set “very low”. “An email with a few points that would hold water will do!” he added.
“Total contempt”
Earlier Saturday, Donald Trump had hoped, on his Truth Social platform, that the Tesla and SpaceX boss would be “more aggressive” in his offensive. “Elon is doing a great job, but I would like to see him become more aggressive,” he wrote. “Remember, we have a country to save,” the Republican president added.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the main union of federal employees, has promised to contest any “illegal” termination of contracts. “Once again, Elon Musk and the Trump administration have shown their total disregard for federal employees and the essential services they provide to the American people,” wrote Everett Kelley, president of AFGE, in a statement.
“Veterans who wear their second uniform in public service are being treated with cruelty and disrespect (…) by this out-of-touch, privileged, unelected billionaire who has never done an hour of honest public service work in his life,” he said. Employees confirmed that their agencies had advised them not to respond to the email, pending further instructions.
In five weeks, the Trump administration has implemented brutal measures to lay off large swathes of the federal workforce. Thousands of federal employees on probation have been fired. Targeted in the latest downsizing announced Friday, the Defense Department is to reduce its workforce by at least 5% starting next week.
A severance plan to encourage federal workers to resign in exchange for continued pay through the end of September had previously been launched. More than 75,000 federal employees have accepted the resignation offer, according to the Washington Post. Some of the sharp cuts to federal spending announced by Mr. Musk and the US president since his inauguration in late January have been challenged in court.
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