Tesla billionaire Elon Musk wrote on his platform X on Saturday that all US federal government workers will have to explain what they did over the last week or resign.

Musk issues warning to 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 said in an X post. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.” 

Reuters news agency reported that workers at government agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have already begun receiving the email.

The Associated Press news agency added that judges, court staff and prison officials also received the email.

The subject line of the email “What did you do last week?” asks the employees to run down their accomplishments within the last seven days in approximately five bullet points. The deadline to submit a response is 11:59 p.m. EST time on Monday. 

The email does not explicitly say that those who fail to respond would lose their jobs.

The federal government has some 2.3 million workers. Musk has been tasked by US President Donald Trump with drastically cutting down the federal bureaucracy, in an effort known as the Department of Government Efficiency.

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Which departments have been targeted by DOGE and what has the reaction been?

The government downsizing effort has elicited shock and awe in both Washington D.C. and other parts of the country.

Departments from the US Department of Defense to the Internal Revenue Service are being targeted for mass layoffs, with some agencies such as USAID and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau being almost dismantled entirely by the Trump administration. 

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Republicans have generally backed DOGE as a necessary effort to save taxpayer money and get rid of waste. Democrats have criticized the effort for being haphazard and argue that Musk, the world’s richest man, has conflicts-of-interest because he is overseeing cuts in departments which regulate his companies.  

Musk’s mass email announcement comes after Trump wrote in a social media post that he would like to see Musk “get more aggressive” in the government downsizing.  

Federal union says it will fight back against Musk’s latest move

A union representing federal workers, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), has vowed to challenge Musk’s email justification strategy.  

“AFGE will challenge any unlawful terminations of our members and federal employees across the country,” the AFGE posted on X. 

“It is cruel and disrespectful for federal employees 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,” the union added, referring to Musk.    

Edited by: Rana Taha