Elon Musk has unveiled a new requirement for federal employees to justify their work weekly, aligning with President Donald Trump’s efforts to downsize the government.
In a message posted to X, Musk announced that federal employees will receive an email asking them to summarize their productivity. Any worker who does not respond will be considered to have resigned.
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.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 22, 2025
This directive comes after Trump signed an executive order instructing agencies to prepare for significant personnel cuts. The order mandates that the Office of Management and Budget develop a plan to streamline operations and reduce the workforce through efficiency improvements.
To be clear, the bar is very low here.
An email with some bullet points that make any sense at all is acceptable!
Should take less than 5 mins to write. https://t.co/MTL1wyzaxd
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 23, 2025
Federal agencies have already begun implementing staff reductions. The Office of Personnel Management has ordered widespread layoffs of probationary employees across various departments, including education and veterans’ affairs.
That would be a very impressive and long list indeed for you!
However, the passing grade is literally just “Can you send an email with words that make any sense at all?”.
It’s a low bar. https://t.co/D3AlfUfdeQ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 23, 2025
The Pentagon has confirmed that 5,400 civilian workers in probationary roles will be dismissed, while the Department of Health and Human Services has removed around 3,600 employees.
Videos like this are all over TikTok, am I missing something here with the Elon Musk emails?
I feel like listing 5 things you worked on should be easy? I feel like you should be able to easily do that daily? Some jobs you have to. pic.twitter.com/PW8uomuiC4
— Sarah Sansoni (@sarahsansoni) February 23, 2025
Critics, including the American Federation of Government Employees, have condemned the policy, arguing that it unfairly targets public servants. However, Trump has praised Musk’s leadership, encouraging him to take even stronger measures to reform the federal workforce.
