Federal employees may get more demands to justify their work at Elon Musk’s direction

Elon Musk's DOGE prompts reactions from both sides of the Florida delegation.

The turmoil that enveloped the federal workforce over the last few days is unlikely to cease anytime soon as the U.S. government’s human resources agency considers how to fulfill Elon Musk ’s demands.

The Office of Personnel Management told agency leaders Monday that their employees did not have to comply with a Musk-inspired edict for workers to report their recent accomplishments or risk getting fired. But later that evening, OPM sent out another memo suggesting that there could be similar requests going forward — and workers might be sanctioned for noncompliance.

“Agencies should consider whether the expectation for employees to submit activity and/or accomplishment bullets should be integrated into the agency’s Weekly Activity Report,” wrote acting director Charles Ezell. He added that “agencies should consider any appropriate actions regarding employees who fail to respond to activity/accomplishment requests.”

OPM originally sent employees an email over the weekend with the subject line “what did you do last week?” Recipients were asked to respond with “approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that more than 1 million employees had responded, which would be less than half of the estimated 2.4 million people in the federal workforce, according to U.S. statistics. She said the idea for the request came from Musk, who used similar management tactics at his own companies, and she said that the administration was “working as one unified team.”

Federal workers faced conflicting directions on whether to respond. One employee, who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation, was told to expect guidance that the request was optional. But when that never came, the employee sent in bullet points to avoid possible repercussions.

Musk continued to press the issue on X, his social media platform, and criticized people in the administration that stood in his way.

“The email request was utterly trivial, as the standard for passing the test was to type some words and press send!” he wrote. “Yet so many failed even that inane test, urged on in some cases by their managers.”

He also approvingly shared the news that unemployment numbers were rising in Washington, saying “the DC swamp is actually draining.”

The billionaire entrepreneur, who serves as President Donald Trump’s most powerful adviser, also suggested that he’s being held back from even more dramatic reductions in government spending.

“I will do whatever I can,” he wrote in response to calls for deeper cuts. “There are limitations place(d) upon me.”

Musk is facing a growing backlash that has extended from outraged Democrats to skeptical Republicans who fear political fallout in their own districts.

About half of Americans say it’s “a bad thing” that Trump has given Musk a prominent role in his administration, according to CNN polling from last week. Only a third saw it as “a good thing.”

Another survey by The Washington Post and Ipsos found that Americans are divided on whether Musk is mainly cutting wasteful spending or necessary programs, with about a third following into each camp. Another quarter said they’re not sure.

Rep. Lisa McClain, a Michigan Republican, said Tuesday that her party was only delivering what voters asked for in the last election.

“We got our marching orders. We listened to the American people,” she said. “And told us they wanted change. And buckle up, because that’s exactly what we’re giving them.”

Alina Habba, a former member of Trump’s personal legal team who now serves as a counselor in the White House, told reporters that the government workforce needed to get on board with the President’s goals.

“If you’re not on an America First agenda, you’re not here,” she said.

Habba also suggested that employees could face more demands to explain their jobs.

“If you struggle to do that for a week, there’s no excuse for that,” she said. “You can have an extra day to answer that, but you better be able to answer that.”

Leavitt, the White House press secretary, is one of three administration officials who face a lawsuit from The Associated Press on first- and fifth-amendment grounds. The AP says the three are punishing the news agency for editorial decisions they oppose. The White House says the AP is not following an executive order to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.

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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.