In a bold move, tech mogul Elon Musk sent a shockwave through federal agencies on Saturday, demanding that all government employees provide a report on their weekly work achievements. He warned that failure to respond would be interpreted as a resignation.
The directive was delivered through an email from the Office of Personnel Management’s newly established HR address, with the subject line reading: “What did you do last week?” The email instructed recipients to list their accomplishments from the past week in approximately five bullet points and send the reply to both their manager and the HR office, ensuring that no classified information, links, or attachments were included.
“Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter). He added, “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
The announcement came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump praised Musk’s work ethic, suggesting that he should be “more aggressive” in his approach. “ELON IS DOING A GREAT JOB, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET MORE AGGRESSIVE. REMEMBER, WE HAVE A COUNTRY TO SAVE, BUT ULTIMATELY, TO MAKE IT GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE. MAGA!” Trump shared on Truth Social.
However, federal agencies, including the FBI, have advised staff members not to respond to Musk’s email for the time being. Some departments, like the FBI, emphasized that the broader executive branch had not been informed about the email’s contents or the request.
In a communication sent to FBI employees, Director Kash Patel instructed them to “pause any responses.” Patel added, “The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all of our review processes and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures. When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses.”
While Musk’s post hinted that non-compliance would be treated as a resignation, the email itself did not include that specific statement, but mentioned a deadline for submissions by Monday at 11:59 p.m. ET.
After the controversy unfolded, Musk indicated a potential reward for employees who responded to the email, suggesting that those who complied could receive a promotion.
