WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — Federal workers are returning to the office Monday morning with an 11:59 p.m. deadline to respond to an email listing five things they’ve accomplished in their roles over the last week.
This comes as the Trump administration is working to cut down on the size and costs of the federal government. Trump recently told Elon Musk he needs to be more aggressive in cutting costs.
On Saturday, an email was sent to hundreds of federal workers requesting employees to list five accomplishments they’ve completed over the last week and to CC their managers in their response. The email was sent with just over 48 hours remaining for workers to respond.
In a post on the X platform, Elon Musk said not replying would be taken as a resignation. This was not included in the email and now several agencies have mixed responses to the matter.
“Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation,” said Musk in the post.
According to the Associated Press, several agencies like the FBI and the Department of Defense are telling their employees that they do not have to comply, while some agencies are encouraging their employees to respond.
The State Department and Homeland Security said they will reply on behalf of their employees. While leaders are other agencies are giving different directions on what workers should do.
Many unions and experts believe Musk’s request is illegal and some are looking to sue.
According to Musk and his department, federal employees have until 11:59 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 24 to respond to the e-mail.
