Businesses inform staff to not adjust to Elon Musk e mail
A number of key U.S. businesses instructed federal staff over the weekend to not adjust to Elon Musk’s e mail during which he demanded staff clarify what they completed final week — or threat shedding their job.
Elon Musk’s e mail to federal staff this weekend requesting “what they obtained executed” final week at work has been met with resistance, from key federal businesses to lawmakers.
A whole bunch of hundreds of federal staff got little greater than 48 hours to conform or threat shedding their job, sparking confusion.
Elon Musk e mail to federal staff
FILE – Elon Musk, chief govt officer of Tesla Inc., in the course of the Conservative Political Motion Convention (CPAC) in Nationwide Harbor, Maryland, US, on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. Photographer: Will Oliver/ EPA / Bloomberg through Getty Pictures
The backstory:
Elon Musk tweeted on Saturday that each one federal staff can be requested to report “what they obtained executed final week,” and that failure to answer could be thought-about a resignation.
Shortly afterward, federal staff acquired a three-line e mail telling them to share “approx. 5 bullets of what you completed final week and cc your supervisor.”
Screenshots of the e-mail despatched to FOX Tv Stations by a federal worker who wished to stay nameless. (Pictures: FTS)
Huge image view:
Layoffs and firings have affected many federal departments in latest weeks.
Since Donald Trump took workplace in January, certainly one of his prime priorities has been chopping and reorganizing spending inside the federal authorities.
The president has tapped billionaire businessman Elon Musk to guide the so-called Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE), which has been tasked with discovering and prioritizing what to chop. 1000’s of federal authorities staff have been laid off or fired within the course of.
Dig deeper:
Musk’s e mail got here simply hours after Trump inspired him on social media to “get extra aggressive” in decreasing the scale of the federal government.
RELATED: Elon Musk says federal staff should e mail ‘what they obtained executed final week’
Response to Elon Musk’s e mail
What they’re saying:
- Democrats and a few Republicans had been essential of Musk’s directive.
- Key federal businesses from the FBI and State Division to the Pentagon instructed their staff to not adjust to the request.
- Labor unions have threatened lawsuits.
- President Trump and Musk each posted a meme mocking federal staff.
“If I might say one factor to Elon Musk, it’s like, please put a dose of compassion on this,” Sen. John Curtin, R-Utah. “These are actual folks. These are actual lives. These are mortgages. … It is a false narrative to say we now have to chop and you must be merciless to do it as properly.”
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-VA, demanded Sunday that the Workplace of Personnel Administration withdraw the e-mail.
“This menace is unlawful, reckless, and one more instance of the merciless and arbitrary chaos Mr. Musk is inflicting on the folks’s authorities and its devoted public servants. You need to instantly make clear that federal staff’ nonresponse to this ill-conceived, weekend e mail doesn’t represent resignation,” he wrote.
Newly confirmed FBI Director Kash Patel, an outspoken Trump ally, instructed bureau staff to disregard Musk’s request, at the least for now.
“The FBI, by way of the Workplace of the Director, is in command of all of our overview processes, and can conduct evaluations in accordance with FBI procedures,” Patel wrote in an e mail confirmed by The Related Press. “When and if additional data is required, we’ll coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses.”
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Pentagon management instructed staff to “pause” any response to Musk’s group as properly.
“The Division of Protection is liable for reviewing the efficiency of its personnel and it’ll conduct any overview in accordance with its personal procedures,” in keeping with an e mail from Jules Hurst, the deputy undersecretary of protection for personnel and readiness. “When and if required, the Division will coordinate responses…”
“It’s merciless and disrespectful to a whole lot of hundreds of veterans who’re carrying their second uniform within the civil service to be pressured to justify their job duties to this out-of-touch, privileged, unelected billionaire who has by no means carried out one single hour of trustworthy public service in his life,” AFGE President Everett Kelley stated.
“AFGE will problem any illegal terminations of our members and federal staff throughout the nation.”
The opposite aspect:
Musk and Trump appeared undeterred.
They each posted a meme on social media mocking federal staff. The Sunday submit featured a cartoon character writing an inventory of accomplishments from the earlier week led by, “Cried about Trump,” “Cried about Elon,” “Made it into the workplace for as soon as,” and “Learn some emails.”
Trump posted it to his Reality Social web site a number of hours after Musk posted it on X.
In keeping with DOGE’s official web site, as of Feb. 17, 2025, the company estimates its financial savings round $55 billion. The company attributes this to “a mixture of fraud detection/deletion, contract/lease cancelations, contract/lease renegotiations, asset gross sales, grant cancelations, workforce reductions, programmatic modifications, and regulatory financial savings.”
What’s subsequent:
The deadline to answer was listed as Monday, Feb. 24, at 11:59 p.m., though the e-mail didn’t embrace Musk’s social media menace about those that fail to reply.
It’s unclear what the following steps can be this week as soon as the deadline passes.
USAID staff fired
In the meantime:
The Trump administration stated it’s putting all however a fraction of staffers on the U.S. Company for Worldwide Growth on depart worldwide and eliminating at the least 1,600 U.S.-based jobs.
The notices had been despatched to USAID staff and considered Sunday by The Related Press.
Huge image view:
The transfer was the most recent and one of many greatest steps but towards what Trump and Musk say is their purpose of gutting the 60-year-old support company as a part of their broader purpose of chopping the scale of the federal authorities.
The Supply: Details about response to the e-mail was taken from quotes and emails obtained by The Related Press, and from a press launch posted Feb. 23, 2025, on Rep. Connolly’s web site. Background data on DOGE and its actions was taken from earlier FOX Tv Station reportings and DOGE’s official web site. Screenshots of the e-mail had been despatched to FTS by a supply that wished to stay nameless for worry of retaliation. This story was reported from Detroit.
