Report or Resign: Musk's Ultimatum Throws US Federal Workforce into Turmoil

The U.S. federal workforce faces a contentious deadline imposed by tech billionaire Elon Musk, head of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Late Saturday, following Trump's advice to get more aggressive, Musk announced via X that all federal employees must submit a brief report, approximately five bullet points, detailing their accomplishments from the previous week by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on Monday, or else their silence would be "taken as a resignation."

This abrupt directive, emailed to over 2 million civilian federal workers by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), has ignited an uproar across agencies, unions, and employees, who see it as an overreach by an unelected figure wielding unprecedented influence in the Trump administration.

The email, which began hitting inboxes Saturday evening, instructed workers to reply with their accomplishments and copy their managers, explicitly barring classified information, links, or attachments. Musk framed the order as aligning with President Donald Trump’s push for an "efficient and accountable" workforce, a sentiment Trump reinforced earlier that day on Truth Social, urging Musk to be "more aggressive" in slashing government waste. "Elon is doing a great job, but I would like to see him get more aggressive," Trump wrote, prompting Musk’s swift escalation. By Sunday morning, February 23 the policy had sparked chaos, confusion, and defiance among federal employees, already reeling from weeks of mass layoffs and a controversial "deferred resignation" programme.

The reaction was immediate and fierce. Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest federal union representing over 750,000 workers, condemned the move as "cruel and disrespectful," particularly to veterans in civil service roles. "It’s utter disdain for federal employees and the critical services they provide," Kelley told reporters, vowing legal action against any "unlawful terminations." Employees at agencies such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) expressed frustration, noting they’ve been barred from tasks since early February under a court order halting mass firings, leaving them unsure how to respond. 

Uncertainty reigns over Musk’s legal authority to enforce resignations. While OPM spokesperson McLaurine Pinover confirmed the directive as part of Trump’s efficiency drive, she deferred "next steps" to individual agencies, leaving the resignation threat’s legitimacy unclear. Some agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, issued follow-up emails urging staff to hold off responding until the request’s validity is assessed. "This is irregular, unexpected, and warrants further validation," NOAA’s memo read. Even the FBI, under new Director Kash Patel, instructed employees to "pause any responses," signaling internal discord within the administration.

For workers, the weekend has been a scramble. At the State Department, diplomats flooded HR and the American Foreign Service Association with queries about compliance, given confidentiality constraints. Some, like a Department of Education employee, planned to defy the order, citing Musk’s lack of elected authority. "I’m not justifying my job to a billionaire who’s never served a day in public service," she said. Others, fearing job loss after 75,000 colleagues took earlier buyouts, some unpaid, debated quick compliance. "It’s a low bar, five minutes to save my career," a GSA worker shrugged, drafting bullets Sunday morning.

The backdrop is Musk’s aggressive DOGE campaign to shrink the federal workforce, already marked by chaotic firings, some reversed after accidentally cutting vital nuclear safety and agriculture staff, and a stalled buyout program offering pay through September 30 for resignations. With only 1 per cent uptake by February’s deadline, Musk’s latest tactic mirrors his 2022 Twitter playbook, where he demanded productivity reports to cull staff. But the federal government isn’t a private company, and civil service protections, union contracts, and congressional oversight complicate his approach. Democrats, like Senator Tim Kaine, argue there’s no budget for such mass exits, while lawsuits from unions loom.

As Monday’s deadline nears, the uproar underscores a broader tension: Musk’s outsized role in Trump’s administration, lauded by supporters as a bold reformer, reviled by critics as a reckless interloper. Federal workers, demoralized by weeks of uncertainty, now face a high-stakes choice, report, resist, or wait, while the nation watches a billionaire test the limits of power over its public servants.