The president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), Everett Kelley, has condemned Elon Musk’s recent request for federal employees to account for the work they did in the past week or face dismissal as “cruel and disrespectful.”
Kelley said the union would continue to legally challenge “any unlawful terminations of our members and federal employees across the country” by the Tesla CEO and Donald Trump’s administration.
Newsweek contacted AFGE for comment by email on Sunday morning, and Musk via Tesla, outside of standard working hours.
Why It Matters
Since Trump’s inauguration, his administration has implemented aggressive efforts to shrink the size of the federal government, which the president has called “bloated” and filled with “people that are unnecessary.”
Mass layoffs of federal employees ordered by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Musk have sparked outrage, especially as the “special government employee” is seen by many as an unelected billionaire slashing the federal workforce without the possibility of being held accountable for his actions.
What To Know
On Saturday, Musk wrote in a post published on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that federal employees would have to justify their work or lose their job.
“Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk wrote. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
Federal workers across the U.S. government reportedly received the message mentioned by Musk on Saturday afternoon. The emails, sent by the Office of Personnel Management, asked workers to reply and provide “approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager” by Monday 11:59 p.m. ET, as reported by NPR.
It is unclear whether the Trump administration and Musk’s DOGE can actually fire everyone who fails to respond to the email, and the decision is likely to be challenged in court—including by AFGE.
JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images
In a statement released on the same day, Kelley said: “Once again, Elon Musk and the Trump administration have shown their utter disdain for federal employees and the critical services they provide to the American people.”
He added: “It is cruel and disrespectful to hundreds of thousands of veterans who are wearing their second uniform in the civil service to be forced to justify their job duties to this out-of-touch, privileged, unelected billionaire who has never performed one single hour of honest public service in his life.”
AFGE has already filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to block mass layoffs of federal employees, alleging that officials are misusing the probationary period of recently hired staff members.
Another lawsuit was filed by the attorneys general of 14 states earlier this month, trying to block mass layoffs and alleging that Musk’s “expansive authority” is in violation of the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution, as the billionaire is not a “principal office” confirmed by the Senate.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan denied the request to block the layoffs as she said the states did not show that immediate irreparable harm would result from them.
What People Are Saying
Suzanne Summerlin, a labor attorney and expert in federal labor relations, told NPR:”Firing someone who was unable or unwilling to respond would be found to be a disproportionate punishment by a labor arbitrator. A letter of reprimand or a suspension would likely be found by an arbitrator to be proportionate.”
Judge Tanya Chutkan said: “DOGE appears to be moving in no sort of predictable and orderly fashion. This is essentially a private citizen directing an organization that’s not a federal agency to have access to the entire workings of the federal government, fire, hire, slash, contract, terminate programs, all without apparently any congressional oversight.”
Josh Blackman, a constitutional law professor at South Texas College of Law, told ABC News: “I think these sorts of early lawsuits will flame out because we truly don’t know what Musk is doing. We are mostly left with conjecture and speculation. So long as an actual government official is pushing the ‘cancel’ button, I don’t know that Musk is holding any actual substantial authority.”
Earlier this month, Trump aide Alina Habba told Fox Newsthat there would be “repercussions for people” trying to “step in Trump’s way.”
What’s Next
Mass layoffs and cost-cutting efforts are expected to continue and even accelerate in the coming weeks and months.
