Defense Department tells staff to ignore Musk's email
Workers among growing group told not to answer
By: Eric Legatta
and cybele Mayer-Osterman
US Today
..... The Department of Defense took to X to publicly tell its employees to ignore a at least for now, an email requested a list of their accomplishments for the pass week [02/16-21/2025] that was touted by Elon Musk on social media.
.....
The department is among a list of U.S. federal agencies pushing back against the email, sent out Saturday [02/22/2025] form the Office of Personnel Management.
..... The email - sent under the subject line, "What did you do last week?" - appeared to be the latest step in Musk's mission of identifying government waste and slashing the federal workforce under the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
..... The endeavor has been one the billionaires CEO of SpaceX and Tesla has taken on with the blessing of President Donald Trump, who has espoused the need to cut federal spending.
..... But unions and other experts have questioned what, if any, legal basis Musk, who was designated as a "special government employee," would have for carrying out the threatened firings. Several federal agencies have directed their employees to hold off on acquiescing to Musk's ultimatum that they account for their time or be fired.
..... According to sources and emails reviewed by Reuters, other genies hat have directed workers to not respond pending further guidance include the Department of Homeland Security; Department of Education; Department of Commerce; Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; National Institutes of Health; and offices within the Justice Department, including the executive office that supports all U.S. attorneys, the department's civil division and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
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The guidance issued by the Department of Defense, which is led by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a staunch Trump ally, was notably made in a public forum, rather than an email to all staff or another from of communication.
..... "When and if required, the Department will coordinate responses to the email you have received form OPM," the agency said on x, which Musk owns. "For now, please pause any responses to the OPM email."
..... Musk, the unofficial leader of DOGE, teased the imminent arrival of the email in a Saturday [02/22/2025] post on X with an ominous waring: "Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation."
..... The email from a human resource address, which was reviewed by USA Today, directs federal workers to reply with "approx 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week [02/16-21/2025] and cc your manager."
..... Musk's message hit the inboxes of federal workers who have survived the firing of thousands of workers in the past two weeks during an unprecedented cutback of the government workforce across a swath of agencies.
..... Some workers were reinstated days after they were fired, including at the National Nuclear Security Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs.
..... Contrary to Musk's X post, the email did not mention termination or disciplinary action for employees failing to respond promptly.
..... The murky legality of the demand has led to signs of tension between the Republican administration and the Trump-empowered Musk. Many agencies have quickly intervened to head off responses, including those led by Trump allies.
..... That includes the FBI, whose director Kash Patel, a Trump appointee, said in an email seen by Reuters that only the agency's office of the director "is in charge of all our review processes."
..... Contributing: Reuters; Mary Walrath-Holdreidge, USA Today