UJ
—
A divide emerged on Sunday between several of President Donald Trump’s agency leaders and Elon Musk, the billionaire assigned to reform the federal government, following Musk’s demand that all federal employees report their weekly achievements or face termination.
By Sunday evening, top officials at the Pentagon, Federal Bureau of Investigation, State Department, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Energy had directed their employees not to respond to an email sent by the Office of Personnel Management on Saturday afternoon with the subject: “What did you do last week?”
Some supervisors, particularly at the Department of Health and Human Services, initially instructed employees to submit a list of five achievements from the previous week to a general government email address, but soon reversed their stance. Others advised their teams to hold off until Monday, instructing them not to reply until then.
The White House did not respond to inquiries regarding the apparent conflict between Musk’s directive and the instructions given by agency heads.
The effort to clarify Trump and Musk’s precise intentions with the email introduced further uncertainty for an already unsettled federal workforce. This situation highlighted a potential clash between some agency leaders—loyalists appointed by Trump—and Musk, who has shown little regard for the strict hierarchies that govern federal operations.
Throughout the chaos, Musk displayed no signs of relenting.
“It’s EXTREMELY troubling that some parts of government think this is TOO MUCH!!” he tweeted on X, the platform he owns. “What is wrong with them??”
Overnight through Sunday, senior officials across all agencies worked to offer their employees guidance on the situation. Notably, Kash Patel, who had just been sworn in as FBI director, was among the first to advise against responding.
“The FBI, through the Office of the Director, manages all review processes and will carry out evaluations according to FBI procedures,” Patel stated. “When and if additional information is needed, we will coordinate necessary responses. For now, please withhold any replies.”
By Sunday, various other agencies—many charged with national security—adopted similar approaches, even as Trump suggested online that he still supported the overall initiative.
“The Department of Defense is accountable for reviewing the performance of its personnel and will conduct these evaluations according to its regulations,” acting Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Darin Selnick wrote on Sunday. “If necessary, the department will coordinate responses to the email you received from OPM. For now, please do not respond to the OPM email titled ‘What did you do last week.’”
Multiple senior officials from the Defense Department conveyed to UJ that the email caused a weekend frenzy as they attempted to determine the appropriate guidance for employees.
“This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve seen in 40 years; it completely bypasses the chain of command,” stated one official. “That may happen in other contexts, but in the DoD, it’s not acceptable.”
Personnel at Homeland Security received a memo from the department’s deputy under secretary for management, R.D. Alles, instructing them not to respond at this time, as reported by UJ.
“DHS management will reply on behalf of the department and all its components,” the email stated, dated Sunday. “No reporting action from you is needed at this time. Please refrain from responding outside of your DHS chain of command for now.”
The State Department also informed its diverse workforce that they were not required to reply to the email.
“The State Department will respond on behalf of the Department. No employee is obligated to report their activities outside of the Department’s chain of command,” an email sent late Saturday from the acting Undersecretary of Management stated.
The Department of Health and Human Services initially informed employees on Sunday morning that the email was valid and they should respond by the deadline of 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday. However, it later retracted this advice, telling staff to “pause” their responses to the email.
Employees at agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration, which fall under HHS, had already been instructed by their respective agencies to wait until Monday for further guidance. On Sunday afternoon, these divisions received HHS’s directive to pause their responses.
Across the vast federal workforce—from Secret Service agents and federal judges to air traffic controllers and diplomats—employees spent Sunday grappling with yet another disturbance instigated by Musk and his team.
This time, the trigger seemed to be Trump’s request on social media urging Musk to adopt a more assertive approach to overhauling the federal government.
It wasn’t long before Musk responded with his plan to require employees to account for their work from the previous week. In a post on X, he stated that anyone who failed to respond would be dismissed. However, there was no mention of this ultimatum when the emails were dispatched to federal inboxes.
Despite the evident confusion within the workforce, Trump offered little indication that he was withdrawing his support for the proposal. He posted a meme from “SpongeBob SquarePants” mockingly addressing the situation. The image read, “Got done last week,” followed by bullet points detailing: “cried about Trump, cried about Elon, made it into the office for once, read some emails, cried about Trump and Elon some more.”
For numerous senior officials, this incident highlighted the relatively unchecked authority Musk has to dramatically alter the federal government.
With Trump’s endorsement and support, Musk’s team of young engineers has infiltrated various agencies, gaining access to sensitive databases and demanding that career employees justify their positions.
Generally, the secretaries and department heads appointed by Trump have raised minimal objections to Musk’s initiatives, often expressing support for the investigation and reform of their agencies.
Yet, privately, concerns persist about the extent of Musk’s authority and whether he should ultimately determine how federal agencies—many of which have complex systems—should function.
By Sunday, even some Republicans expressed disapproval of Trump’s strategy.
“If I could convey one message to Elon Musk, it would be, ‘Please inject a sense of compassion into this. These are real people with real lives,’” Sen. John Curtis of Utah stated in a Sunday interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “Claiming that cuts are necessary doesn’t mean it needs to be harsh; we can achieve both goals.”
UJ’s Meg Tirrell, Josh Campbell, Jenny Hansler, Priscilla Alvarez, and Sean Lyngaas contributed reporting.
