Billionaire Elon Musk posted on social media that, under the direction of President Donald Trump, all federal employees will soon receive an email asking to describe the work completed last week on February 22 (local time). He stressed: "No response will be considered a resignation letter."
A note from the federal Department of Human Resources was sent shortly after, asking the officials to respond with about five contents about what they had done, before the deadline of midnight on February 24. The document also warns against sending confidential information in reports.
The move reflects the strategy Elon Musk used when he took over at Twitter, which came right after President Trump's post, in which he praised Musk for "doing very well, but I want to see him get stronger".
Previously, Elon Musk's administrative restructuring plan caused a series of government agencies to fall into a state of disarray. Hundreds of contracts have been canceled and tens of thousands of federal employees have been suspended from work.
The Trump administration has faced backlash by sacking veterans and cybersecurity personnel, forcing them to re-recruit some key positions in the agency in charge of nuclear safety.
In addition, the US government has implemented a program allowing civil servants to voluntarily resign if they do not want to return to work in person. It was expected that about 200,000 people would register, but in reality, only 77,000 people would leave their jobs.
Trump also fired CQ Brown Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman and five other senior Pentagon officials on February 21. The Ministry of National Defense plans to cut an additional 5,400 probationary employees from next week.
email from the Federal Office of Personnel Management on February 22 did not mention Elon Musk's threat to fire him, but Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said his organization would "fight any illegal dismissal decisions."
Mr. Kelley criticized: "Once again, Elon Musk and the Trump administration show disregard for federal employees and the essential services they provide." He stressed that forcing hundreds of thousands of veterans serving in the government to prove their work value to "a billionaire who has left reality and never contributed an hour of public service" is a cruel and disrespectful act.
The Federal Office of Personnel Management has not commented on this issue.
