U.S. Agencies Resist Elon Musk’s Demand for Job Justifications as Backlash Grows
Department of Justice and NASA, adopted a wait-and-see approach, advising staff to draft responses but hold off on submission until further instructions are provided.
A wave of confusion and resistance swept through the U.S. federal workforce today as multiple government agencies instructed employees to hold off on responding to a controversial email demand from Elon Musk, head of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Susequent to FBI Chief's directive to his staff members to pause on Musk's 'Comply or resign' mail, several other agencies also have echoed the same view.
The directive, sent Saturday evening, required over 2 million federal workers to submit a summary of their past week’s accomplishments by Monday or face what Musk called an automatic resignation.
The email, originating from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), asked employees to provide five bullet points detailing their work, but Musk escalated the stakes on his social media platform X, declaring, “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.” The abrupt order, issued over a weekend when many workers were off-duty, sparked immediate backlash and uncertainty across departments, with agencies issuing conflicting guidance.
After FBI, now other Key players, including, Pentagon, and State Department, swiftly told staff to ignore the request for now. FBI Director Kash Patel, a Trump appointee, emphasised agency autonomy, stating, “The FBI handles its own review processes.” The Pentagon echoed this, directing employees to pause until internal procedures are clarified, citing potential legal and security concerns. The State Department joined in, instructing workers not to reply outside their chain of command, highlighting a rare fracture among Trump-aligned officials and Musk’s aggressive cost-cutting campaign.
Other agencies, such as the Department of Justice and NASA, adopted a wait-and-see approach, advising staff to draft responses but hold off on submission until further instructions are provided. Meanwhile, the Department of Health and Human Services reversed its initial guidance to comply, telling employees late Sunday to “pause activities” and await updates. The mixed signals left federal workers scrambling, with some questioning the email’s legitimacy and others decrying its tone as intimidating.
Musk, tasked with slashing government spending, has already overseen mass layoffs and buyouts affecting tens of thousands since Trump’s inauguration. Defending the email as a “basic pulse check,” he suggested it would expose inefficiencies, including “non-existent people” on payrolls. However, According to various news reports, the American Federation of Government Employees, representing over 8,00,000 workers, slammed the move as unlawful, arguing Musk lacks authority to enforce such demands. Union president Everett Kelley called it “cruel and disrespectful,” vowing to fight any firings.
Legal experts question whether Musk or OPM can unilaterally terminate employees, noting civil service protections and agency-specific regulations. The chaotic rollout, compounded by the weekend timing and lack of clarity, drew bipartisan criticism. Senator John Curtis (R-Utah) urged Musk to “put a dose of compassion” into his approach, while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) accused him of “traumatising hardworking federal employees.”
As the Monday deadline looms, the standoff tests Musk’s influence within the Trump administration and the limits of his unorthodox methods. With agencies digging in and workers on edge, the next steps remain uncertain, leaving the federal bureaucracy in a state of limbo as it braces for the fallout. (Pic. credit: PTI/AP)
