Elon Musk just sent a shockwave through the U.S. government—every federal worker received the same blunt email demanding they justify their job or resign. And now, former President Donald Trump has stepped in, telling Musk to crank up the pressure.
In a fiery post on X (formerly Twitter), Trump declared: “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!”
Musk didn’t hesitate to respond, replying: “Will do, Mr. President!”
Social media erupted with confusion and debate. One user questioned, “Why’d he have to put that out on social media instead of just talking to you, Elon?” Another simply wrote, “MORE AGGRESSIVE!?” while others warned that the move could cause chaos in the federal workforce.
The Email That Shook Washington
On Saturday, February 22, Musk—now leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—unleashed a radical new policy. Every federal employee was sent an email asking them to provide a summary of their accomplishments for the week. The kicker? Failure to respond would be treated as an automatic resignation.
“Workers will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk posted on X. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) quickly confirmed the email was legitimate, stating, “As part of the Trump administration’s commitment to an efficient and accountable federal workforce, OPM is asking employees to provide a brief summary of what they did last week by the end of Monday, CC’ing their manager. Agencies will determine any next steps.”
A Divisive Move
Federal employees were given a strict format—five bullet points listing their accomplishments. The announcement sparked immediate backlash. Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, slammed the move, calling it a direct attack on public service workers.
Meanwhile, Musk doubled down on Sunday, revealing that a “large number of responses” had already flooded in. “These are the people who should be considered for promotion,” he wrote. But then he dropped an even bigger bombshell: “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.”
Trump’s Vision for a Leaner Government
At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Trump made it clear that this is just the beginning of a major shakeup. “We’re removing all of the unnecessary, incompetent, and corrupt bureaucrats from the federal workforce,” he told the crowd. “We want to make government smaller, more efficient. We want to keep the best people, and we’re not going to keep the worst people.”
With Musk leading the charge and Trump urging him to push even harder, one thing is clear: Washington has never seen anything like this before.
