Washington, D.C., USA – In a recent move by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk targeting the federal workforce, employees began receiving emails on February 22 asking them to explain what work they did last week. Musk announced that “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”

However, several national security agencies, including the FBI, and multiple other federal departments advised staffers not to respond to the email immediately, suggesting that the broader executive branch was neither informed nor prepared for the demand.

The email, sent from the Office of Personnel Management’s new HR email address without a signature, had the subject line:

“What did you do last week?” It requested employees to reply with approximately five bullet points of their accomplishments and to cc their manager, emphasizing not to send any classified information, links, or attachments. Copies of these emails, marked with high importance, were obtained by CNN.

The email blast followed a social media post by Musk, who threatened the jobs of workers who did not comply, stating, “Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week."

Despite this, the email did not explicitly state that failure to respond would be taken as resignation but set a deadline for submission as February 24 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

This request sent shockwaves through a federal workforce already burdened by various orders from the Trump administration, including recent terminations of thousands of employees on probationary status, a deferred resignation offer, and a requirement to return to the office full-time.

Union leaders received numerous concerned texts from members following Musk’s post and the OPM email. Michael Fallings, a federal employment law expert, highlighted that Musk’s comment lacked legal authority and that such demands were “unreasonable and unnecessary.” He advised employees to discuss the email with their managers and union officials before responding, as attempting to force resignations would amount to involuntary termination, which could be legally challenged.

Musk later posted a follow-up message on X, clarifying, “To be clear, the bar is very low here. An email with some bullet points that make any sense at all is acceptable! Should take less than 5 mins to write.”

Legit.ng earlier reported that early on Monday, February 3, Elon Musk announced that he had spoken with President Donald Trump, who “agreed” with him that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) should be shut down.

This announcement came just hours after the president criticised the aid agency’s leadership, calling them “a bunch of radical lunatics.”

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Source: Legit.ng