Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leader Elon Musk said early Monday that federal workers who haven’t returned to the office will be placed on administrative leave this week.
Last month, President Trump warned federal employees that they must return to pre-pandemic norms and return to their offices “or be terminated.”
Musk, in a post to his X site, highlighted the administration’s effort.
“Those who ignored President Trump’s executive order to return to work have now received over a month’s warning,” Musk said.
“Starting this week, those who still fail to return to office will be placed on administrative leave.”
Musk was replying to a post from Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), who said no government agencies were occupying half of their workspaces.
Trump said in January that he believed very few federal employees would return to the office and “therefore our government will get smaller and more efficient.”
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has been communicating these changes to federal workers.
Employees were offered buyout plans if they didn’t want to return to in-person work.
The buyout plan sparked concern among unions and some Democratic lawmakers who cautioned against accepting the offer.
Over the weekend, federal employees were then asked by OPM to detail what they accomplished last week and said failure to reply to the request would signal a resignation.
The OPM request for work details also sparked concern and put some of Trump’s top allies against Musk, as they said they would not require their department’s employees to submit the request.
