Elon Musk, a billionaire and advisor to Donald Trump, announced that all U.S. federal employees must justify their recent work or risk termination. This directive follows Trump’s encouragement to cut government spending aggressively. Musk’s email, sent via the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, requires employees to detail their weekly accomplishments. Union leaders, including the American Federation of Government Employees’ president, criticized this move as disrespectful and vowed to challenge any unlawful terminations. The initiative is part of Musk’s role in leading the new Department of Government Efficiency, mandated to eliminate waste and reduce the federal workforce under Trump’s administration.
Washington:
Elon Musk, the billionaire advisor to Donald Trump, stated on Saturday that all US federal employees need to justify their work or face job loss, shortly after the president urged him to be “more aggressive” in cutting government spending. Musk — the richest person in the world and Trump’s largest donor — has spearheaded efforts to dismiss significant portions of the federal workforce.
“All federal employees will soon receive an email asking them to report on what they accomplished last week. Not responding will be interpreted as a resignation,” Musk wrote.
A copy of the email shared with AFP indicated that federal employees were requested to provide “approximately 5 bullet points of what you achieved last week.”
The email originated from the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), with the subject line “What did you do last week?”. Responses were due by 11:59 pm Monday, although the email did not specify that failure to respond would result in termination.
The OPM did not immediately respond to AFP’s inquiry for comment on Saturday evening.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest union representing federal employees, pledged to contest any unlawful dismissals in a statement from national president Everett Kelley.
Kelley criticized Musk and the Trump administration, asserting that the action demonstrated “their total disregard for federal employees and the essential services they deliver to the American public.”
“It’s cruel and disrespectful to the countless veterans who are serving in the civil service to be compelled to justify their job responsibilities to this disconnected, privileged, unelected billionaire who has never spent even an hour in genuine public service,” he stated.
Several federal employees informed AFP that their agencies advised them not to reply to the email and to await further instructions, a suggestion also supported by the National Treasury Employees Union.
‘More aggressive’
Earlier on Saturday, Trump expressed on his Truth Social platform that Musk was “doing a great job, but I would like to see him be more aggressive.”
“Remember, we have a country to save,” the Republican leader added.
Trump has appointed the tech entrepreneur to lead the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) advisory group, charging him with reducing public expenditure and addressing perceived waste and corruption.
In the most recent cuts revealed on Friday, the US Defense Department plans to decrease its civilian workforce by at least five percent starting next week.
Trump’s administration has already initiated the termination of numerous other federal employees who are on probation.
DOGE operates as a free-range entity managed by Musk, although its initiatives for cost-cutting have encountered resistance on multiple fronts and mixed judicial decisions.
A judge on Thursday denied a union’s request to temporarily stop the layoffs of thousands of individuals.
Musk mentioned this week that he would collaborate with Trump for as long as he “can be helpful,” as the duo downplayed concerns about potential conflicts of interest stemming from the tycoon’s government contracts.
“Elon is doing a great job,” Trump told a gathering of conservative activists on Saturday, enumerating what he claimed were “some of the blatant scams” that had been uncovered. “We love Elon, don’t we? He’s a character,” Trump remarked. “People asked me, what official role does he hold? I said, ‘Patriot’.”
Musk stated this week that DOGE would be promoting its activities on its website and that such transparency would ensure accountability.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)