CNN
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Federal workers began receiving emails Saturday asking them to explain what work they did last week, as Elon Musk announced that “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
“Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager. Please do not send any classified information, links, or attachments,” reads the email, which has no signature. CNN has obtained copies of emails sent to multiple federal employees.
“Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk posted Saturday on X, hours after President Donald Trump suggested he be more “aggressive.” “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
However, the email itself does not state that failure to answer will be taken as resignation. It says the deadline for submission is Monday at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Shortly after Musk’s post, Trump called the X owner a “patriot” and said he was “doing a great job” during remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Musk, whom Trump has tapped to reshape the federal government with his Department of Government Efficiency, did not provide additional details about the emails, including when the deadline is and who they would be sent to. Whether Musk’s plan is legal is also unclear.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
The head of a top union representing federal workers lambasted Musk’s ultimatum, telling CNN in a statement that it reflects the Trump administration’s “utter disdain for federal employees and the critical services they provide to the American people.”
“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,” said Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees.
Kelley said his union plans to take legal action to “challenge any unlawful terminations of our members and federal employees.”
Musk’s comments follow a post from Trump on Saturday morning suggesting he’d like to see the tech billionaire get more aggressive.
“ELON IS DOING A GREAT JOB, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET MORE AGGRESSIVE. REMEMBER, WE HAVE A COUNTRY TO SAVE, BUT ULTIMATELY, TO MAKE GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE. MAGA!” Trump’s post read. Musk replied, “Will do, Mr. President!” in his own post.
The emails come as Musk and Trump seek to reshape the federal workforce — including reducing its size, replacing career workers with political appointees, wiping away some civil service protections, ending diversity efforts and more.
The Trump administration offered federal workers “buyouts” last month, allowing workers to leave their jobs but be paid through the end of September. The plan faced legal challenges, though a federal judge last week allowed the Trump administration to move forward for the moment.
And federal workers have been fired by the thousands in several departments, with more planned.
CNN’s Betsy Klein contributed to this report.
