The article reports that Elon Musk has issued a warning to U.S. government employees, mandating that they disclose their work activities from the past week or face termination. Musk announced that, in alignment with President Donald Trump’s instructions, federal employees would soon receive an email requesting a summary of their recent accomplishments. Failure to comply will reportedly be interpreted as a resignation.
A memo from the U.S. government’s human resources department, as summarized for the Financial Times, instructs staff to provide approximately five bullet points of their achievements by midnight on the following Monday. The memo also advises against including any classified information in their responses. This approach mirrors tactics Musk employed during his acquisition of Twitter and follows a recent comment from Donald Trump, where he praised Musk’s performance but encouraged more assertiveness.
Musk’s actions have resulted in significant impacts on key government departments, with numerous contracts terminated and a suspension of thousands of employees. The Trump administration has faced criticism for dismissing veterans and cybersecurity personnel, leading to a reinstatement of staff at the agency safeguarding the nation’s nuclear arsenal.
In response to a federal return-to-office initiative, government employees were given the option to resign if they preferred not to resume full-time in-office work. The White House anticipated up to 200,000 resignations, though the program ultimately closed with 77,000 employees choosing to resign.
Further actions by the Trump administration included the dismissal of General CQ Brown as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, along with five other senior Pentagon officials. The Department of Defense also plans to eliminate 5,400 probationary positions starting next week.
The demand sent via email from the Office of Personnel Management did not reiterate Musk’s online warning of termination for non-compliance. However, Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, expressed that the organization would contest any unlawful terminations of federal employees. Kelley criticized both Musk and the Trump administration for their attitudes towards federal employees, emphasizing the detrimental impact on veterans working in civil service roles.
The Office of Personnel Management did not provide a comment on the matter.
