Federal employees have 48 hours to account for their workweek as billionaire Elon Musk, in his role as President Donald Trump’s chief cost-cutter, intensifies efforts to slash what he calls “waste everywhere” in government operations.
Musk announced the directive on his social media platform X on Saturday, stating:
“Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
Shortly after, federal workers received an email instructing them to submit approximately five bullet points summarizing their weekly accomplishments and to copy their managers. The deadline to respond is Monday at 11:59 p.m.
The ultimatum comes as thousands of government employees have already been removed from the federal workforce—either through firings or buyouts—within the first month of Trump’s new administration. The White House and Musk’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency have initiated large-scale layoffs, ordered agencies to prepare for further reductions, and frozen trillions in federal grant funding.
There is no official count of layoffs to date, but The Associated Press reports that hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been affected, many outside Washington, D.C. Job cuts include thousands from the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Defense, Health and Human Services, the Internal Revenue Service, and the National Park Service.
Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, condemned the move, calling it an example of Trump and Musk’s “utter disdain for federal employees and the critical services they provide to the American people.”
“It is cruel and disrespectful to the hundreds of thousands of veterans who now serve in civil service, forcing them to justify their work to an out-of-touch, privileged billionaire who has never spent a single hour in public service,” Kelley said. “AFGE will challenge any unlawful terminations.”
On Friday, Musk celebrated his new role by waving a giant chainsaw at a conservative gathering, calling it “the chainsaw for bureaucracy.” He stated, “Waste is pretty much everywhere in the federal government.” McLaurine Pinover, a spokesperson for the Office of Personnel Management, confirmed the directive and said agencies would determine next steps for employees who fail to comply. When asked about workers on leave or vacation, she reiterated that individual agencies would make those decisions
