Trump-Musk Email Demand Sparks Federal Workforce Backlash

Federal employees across the United States received unexpected emails on Saturday demanding they summarize their weekly work accomplishments. The directive, linked to tech billionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump’s efforts to reform the federal workforce, has triggered confusion and backlash, particularly within national security agencies.

The emails, sent from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), carried the subject line, “What did you do last week?” and instructed employees to provide approximately five bullet points summarizing their recent tasks by Monday at 11:59 p.m. ET. The message warned against including classified information, links, or attachments and asked recipients to copy their managers.

However, the email did not explicitly state Musk’s earlier warning that “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation,” which he had posted on social media platform X. Hours before the emails were sent, Musk cited Trump’s “instructions” as the reason for the measure, following the president’s call for him to be “more aggressive.”

The unanticipated directive created immediate tension within the federal workforce. Agencies like the FBI and the Department of Defense urged employees not to respond until further notice. FBI Director Kash Patel informed bureau staff that their reviews would follow internal procedures, advising them to pause responses. The State Department similarly told employees that they were not required to reply. By contrast, Secret Service Director Sean Curran confirmed the email’s legitimacy, instructing personnel to comply and offering internal support resources for those feeling uncertain.

Union leaders swiftly condemned the demand. Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, decried Musk’s approach as “cruel and disrespectful,” particularly toward veterans now serving as civil servants. The National Treasury Employees Union president, Doreen Greenwald, called the email “completely un-American” and vowed to challenge any unlawful terminations.

Federal employment law expert Michael Fallings stated that Musk’s online threat of considering nonresponses as resignations holds no legal authority. Fallings labeled the weekend request with a short deadline as “unreasonable and unnecessary,” emphasizing that involuntary terminations would be legally challengeable.

Despite the legal uncertainty, the email has created anxiety among many federal workers. Some expressed fear that failing to respond could jeopardize their jobs, while others saw the demand as an attempt to pressure employees into quitting. One worker described the request as “insulting” and “mind-blowing,” given the existing systems that already track their activities.

Trump and Musk’s collaboration to reshape the federal government includes reducing workforce size, removing certain civil service protections, and curtailing diversity initiatives. As agencies and employees navigate the fallout from this latest directive, unions are preparing legal responses, while the federal workforce faces ongoing uncertainty.