FBI, DoD, State Dept. Push Back On Musk's Monday Deadline For 'Accomplishments' Email
Update (1647ET): Following Elon Musk's Saturday tweet instructing federal workers to list at least five accomplishments over the past week by Monday at midnight, or face termination - which was followed up by an actual email from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), several agencies issued statements telling their employees to pump the brakes.
So far the Pentagon, FBI, State Department, and various parts of the Intelligence Community have told their employees to hold off.
"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 email titled ‘What did you do last week," said DoD Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Darin Selnick in a statement.
That followed a similar statement by FBI Director Kash Patel, who told the bureau that they would conduct their own employee reviews that align with the agency's procedures.
The State Department told its employees; "The State Department will respond on behalf of the Department. No employee is obligated to report their activities outside of their Department chain of command."
Top leadership at the State Department has instructed its employees to ignore @elonmusk’s productivity inquiry, saying, essentially—we will evaluate our own people. A sign not all Trump officials are on board with Musk’s DOGE email. pic.twitter.com/9tsufc1rXA
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) February 23, 2025
While National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard told employees of agencies she oversees in the Intelligence Community (IC): "Given the inherently sensitive and classified nature of our work, I.C. employees should not respond to the OPM email," according to The Hill.
Meanwhile, Everett Kelley, the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), wrote a letter to Musk and OPM acting director Charles Ezell, directing its 800,000 members to defy the demand.
"Federal employees report to their respective agencies through their established chains of command; they do not report to OPM," said Kelly, adding that the demand was "irresponsible" and a "sophomoric attempt" to cause confusion and intimidate federal workers.
"I am also requesting that OPM rescind the email and apologize to all federal employees," he said.
Musk has defended the 'accomplishments' email, saying that it was designed to weed out "non-existent people or the identities of dead people" who are collecting government checks. He also agreed with commentator and author Mike Cernovich that this also helps to identify high-performing employees.
I have a a few friends who are government employees wrapped up in the DOGE "chaos." And unlike what is being reported in the media, they are ecstatic...
Deep down, most (good) people want to feel like their job has meaning and purpose.
They've been spinning their wheels in…— John LeFevre (@JohnLeFevre) February 23, 2025
I have a a few friends who are government employees wrapped up in the DOGE "chaos." And unlike what is being reported in the media, they are ecstatic...
Deep down, most (good) people want to feel like their job has meaning and purpose.
They've been spinning their wheels in…— John LeFevre (@JohnLeFevre) February 23, 2025
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