Elon Musk has announced a major shift in federal employment policy, requiring workers to submit reports detailing their weekly accomplishments or be considered resigned.
The policy, which aligns with President Donald Trump’s efforts to streamline government operations, was revealed by Musk on X. “All federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” he stated. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
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.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 22, 2025
This initiative follows an executive order signed by Trump directing agencies to reduce staff. The Office of Management and Budget has been tasked with developing a plan to shrink the government workforce through efficiency gains and attrition.
To be clear, the bar is very low here.
An email with some bullet points that make any sense at all is acceptable!
Should take less than 5 mins to write. https://t.co/MTL1wyzaxd
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 23, 2025
In response, agencies have already started reducing personnel. The Office of Personnel Management has instructed departments to dismiss nearly all probationary employees, affecting agencies such as the Department of Education and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
That would be a very impressive and long list indeed for you!
However, the passing grade is literally just “Can you send an email with words that make any sense at all?”.
It’s a low bar. https://t.co/D3AlfUfdeQ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 23, 2025
The Pentagon is making cuts as well, with plans to terminate 5,400 probationary workers from its civilian ranks. Additionally, the Department of Health and Human Services has let go of about 3,600 employees.
Videos like this are all over TikTok, am I missing something here with the Elon Musk emails?
I feel like listing 5 things you worked on should be easy? I feel like you should be able to easily do that daily? Some jobs you have to. pic.twitter.com/PW8uomuiC4
— Sarah Sansoni (@sarahsansoni) February 23, 2025
While the American Federation of Government Employees has vowed to challenge the policy, Musk has continued pushing forward with additional cost-cutting measures. His Department of Government Efficiency has uncovered billions in federal spending, including millions of government credit card transactions.
