Washington, Feb 23, (V7N) – Elon Musk, the billionaire advisor to President Trump and head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), issued a controversial ultimatum to federal workers on Saturday, demanding they report their work accomplishments from the previous week or risk losing their jobs.
 
Musk's message was posted on X (formerly Twitter) at 2:46 p.m. ET, instructing all federal employees to respond to an email with a summary of their accomplishments from the week of February 16.
 
 
The email, titled "What did you do last week?", requested employees to reply with approximately five bullet points outlining their achievements. The deadline for the response was set for 11:59 p.m. EST on Monday. The email emphasized not to include classified information, links, or attachments. Agencies such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were among those that received the email.
 
While Musk's social media post mentioned that failure to respond would be considered a resignation, the email itself did not explicitly state any disciplinary actions. It remains unclear whether Musk has the legal authority to carry out terminations based on non-compliance with the request.
 
The move has sparked strong backlash, with critics calling it disrespectful. Everett Kelly, National President of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), condemned Musk's actions as "cruel" and criticized his lack of experience in public service. He stated, "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."
 
This development follows an executive order signed by President Trump on February 11, directing the federal government to implement a "workforce optimization initiative" under the direction of Musk’s DOGE. As a result, federal workers have faced layoffs, and around 75,000 employees accepted buyouts, though some have reported that the payments were not processed as promised.
It remains to be seen how many federal workers have been affected by the layoffs.
 
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