Several US federal agencies, some of which are run by well-known Donald Trump supporters, have resisted Elon Musk’s attempt to have workers defend their accomplishments at work or face termination.
The opposition hinted at a potential conflict between Musk, who has led an effort to reduce the government’s millions of civilian employees, and important Trump administration individuals, which has caused uncertainty in several departments.
In an email seen by AFP on Saturday, the US Office of Personnel Management gave government employees until 11:59 p.m. on Monday to provide “approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week.”
Not long beforehand, Musk had posted on X that “all federal workers” would receive the email and that “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
Federal workers told AFP they had been advised not to reply immediately.
On Sunday, the Defense Department posted a note requesting that staff “pause any response to the OPM email titled ‘What did you do last week.'”
“The Department of Defense is responsible for reviewing the performance of its personnel and it will conduct any review in accordance with its own procedures,” it said in a post on X.
According to US media, officials at the FBI, State Department, and Office of National Intelligence nominated by the Trump administration also told employees not to reply immediately.
According to a statement issued to staff members on Saturday by Kash Patel, the incoming director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, “the FBI, through the office of the director, is in charge of all our review processes,” according to the incoming York Times.
The biggest federal employee union, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), swiftly retaliated as well, promising to contest any wrongful terminations.
In a letter to the OPM on Sunday, the AFGE criticized the power given to the “unelected and unhinged” Musk and said the “email was nothing more than an irresponsible and sophomoric attempt to create confusion and bully the hard-working federal employees that serve our country.”
In order to cut public expenditure and address suspected waste and corruption, Trump appointed Musk, the richest person in the world and the president’s largest fundraiser, to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) advisory committee.
Despite opposition on multiple fronts and conflicting court decisions, DOGE is a free-ranging organization led by the software entrepreneur.
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