Tech billionaire Elon Musk said federal employees will get a second chance to respond to an email asking for a recap of their last week’s accomplishments — or else face termination.
“Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance,” Musk wrote on X on Monday, referring to federal employees who did not respond to an initial email asking them to list 5 things they accomplished in the week prior by 11:59 p.m. Monday or face removal.
“Failure to respond a second time will result in termination,” Musk added, in his latest post.
The message appears to contradict recent guidance from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which told agency leaders Monday afternoon that employee response to the initial email was not mandatory and that failure to do so would not be considered a resignation.
“This afternoon, OPM during a Chief Human Capital Officers Council meeting, informed agencies that employee responses to the OPM email is voluntarily,” according to an email obtained by The Hill.
“OPM also clarified that a non-response to the email does not equate to a resignation,” the email read.
That OPM guidance initially came amid a turf war between agency leaders and Musk and amid confusion surrounding the email, sent at Musk’s direction, to federal employees on Saturday afternoon. That email demanded a response by the end of the day on Monday and said failure to respond would be understood as resignation.
Several departments and agencies, however, quickly followed up and instructed employees not to respond to the email.
In a message to staff Saturday, FBI Director Kash Patel said that “when and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses.”
“The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of our review processes and will conduct reviews,” he added.
Department of Homeland Security leadership sent an email to its more than 250,000 employees likewise directing them not to respond to the email.
“DHS management will respond on behalf of the Department and all its component offices,” the email stated.
“No reporting action from you is needed at this time. For now, please pause any responses outside your DHS chain of command.”
OPM was previously sued over the creation of a new email system and its data collection efforts, a process that forced it to do an after-the-fact privacy assessment.
That document says that response to any email is “explicitly voluntary” but it likewise states “there is a risk individuals will not realize their response is voluntary.”
President Trump, however, defended Musk’s mandate to employees Monday.
“There was a lot of genius in sending it. We’re trying to find out if people are working, and so we’re sending a letter to people, ‘Please tell us what you did last week.’ If people don’t respond, it’s very possible that there is no such person or they’re not working,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
The Hill has reached out to the White House for clarification.
