The Department of Defense posted to X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday, telling Pentagon staff to disregard an email from billionaire Elon Musk that asked government employees to document in an email what they’d done in the last week.
Newsweek reached out to the Pentagon via email on Sunday for comment.
Why It Matters
Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been tapped by President Donald Trump to shrink the size of the federal government, which he has called “bloated” and full of “people that are unnecessary.”
The Pentagon is now led by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who was appointed by Trump and confirmed by the Senate in late January. Sunday’s message suggests the Trump appointee is not fully on board with Musk’s efforts. Trump’s FBI director Kash Patel previously sent a similar message to his staff telling them not to respond to Musk’s email.
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J. David Ake/ Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
What To Know
The message from Darin Selnick, who is performing the duties of Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, was posted to X on Sunday afternoon and was sent to staff earlier in the day.
“DoD personnel may have received an email from OPM requesting information. The Department of Defense is responsible for reviewing the performance of its personnel and it will conduct any review in accordance with its own procedures,” the message said.
“When and if required, the Department will coordinate responses to the email you have received from OPM. For now, please pause any response to the OPM [Office of Personnel Management] email titled ‘What did you do last week.'”
Since Trump’s inauguration, thousands of federal employees have been fired or have accepted the administration’s offer to resign now and receive eight months of wages. Notably, the Pentagon announced on Friday that it will be cutting 5,400 probationary civilian employees this week.
While mass layoffs have sparked outrage among Democratic lawmakers, unions, and members of the public, Trump has stood by DOGE and Musk’s work, expressing his approval of what he called a “force of super-geniuses.”
On Saturday, Musk wrote on X: “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.”
A few hours later, federal workers across several government agencies received an email by OPM asking them to 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.
Later on the same day, Patel reportedly sent a message to all FBI employees asking them not to respond to the OPM email until a coordinated response had been orchestrated.
“All, FBI personnel may have received an email from OPM requesting information. The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all of our review processes and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures,” reads the message as reported by NBC. “When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses.”
Bloomberg Law also reported that supervisors at the Department of Justice (DOJ) told employees to leave the email unanswered while they wait to receive further clarity on the situation.
What People Are Saying
Elon Musk wrote on X on Sunday: “The reason this matters is that a significant number of people who are supposed to be working for the government are doing so little work that they are not checking their email at all! In some cases, we believe non-existent people or the identities of dead people are being used to collect paychecks. In other words, there is outright fraud.”
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ed Martin commented on the email, writing on X: “Great work by @elonmusk and @DOGE! Proud to be part of it. Let’s go!” Martin urged staff to respond to the email.
Acting U.S. Attorney for Maryland, Philip Selden, told staff members, as reported by ABC News: “We are seeking guidance from [DOJ] about how employees in our office should respond to this request. Please note we want to be thoughtful given the sensitivity of the work we do every day.
“For example, grand jury secrecy as outlined by Rule 6(e), confidentiality, identifying uncharged targets, wiretap information, attorney-client privilege, etc. I suggest holding off on responding until we receive guidance.”
Charlie Kirk, founder and CEO of the conservative organization Turning Point USA wrote on X on Sunday: “If any of the hundreds of employees who work for me refused to send a very short email with 5 bullet points and copying their manager, with 48hrs notice (!!) no less, they would no longer be employed. This is not controversial. The unhinged reaction is proof the culture of the federal government workforce is rotten and needs dramatic transformation, not incremental change.”
What Happens Next?
The Trump administration’s efforts to drastically shrink the size of the federal government are expected to accelerate in the coming weeks. Mass layoffs of federal workers have already prompted legal challenges and these are likely to continue as Musk’s authority and the legality of the sudden firings are put into question.
The OPM email asking federal employees to justify their work or be fired has already sparked questions over the legality of such action.
Update 2/23/25, at 3:27 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
