Musk Email of Government Workers causes confusion in US agencies

Officials from numerous US government services have offered staff contrary to staff on how to respond to an email on Saturday, advertised by Trump advisor Elon Musk, demanding to list their achievements from last week.

The management marks the remarkable public disagreement between the Trump appointed, who manage thousands of bureaucrats and Musk, which – as the head of the so -called Ministry of Government Efficiency (Dogi) – leads external efforts to aggressively reduce government spending.

Some agencies managers encourage employees to comply with, while others demanded that employees wait for additional guidance on how to react appropriately.

President Donald Trump has not yet commented on the email.

The announcement, sent to millions of federal officials on Saturday night, came after Musk posted on his social media platform X that the government staff “will soon receive an email asking to find out what they did last week.”

In a copy of the email received by the BBC, employees were asked to respond, explaining their achievements from last week at five points from the bullet – without revealing classified information – before midnight on Monday. The Staff Management Office (OPM), the Federal Government’s Human Resources Agency, confirmed that the email is authentic.

The announcement does not mention whether the refusal to comply with the status of employment, despite the claim by Musk’s social media that “the failure of response will be accepted as a resignation.”

The recently confirmed FBI Director Kash Patel told his employees on a separate email later on Saturday that they need to “pause any answers.”

“The FBI staff may have received an email from OPM that wants information,” Patel wrote in a message received from CBS News. “The FBI, through the Director’s service, is responsible for all our review processes and will carry out examinations in accordance with the FBI procedures.”

The State Department sent a similar message to its employees, saying that its management would respond on behalf of the agency.

“No employee is obliged to announce his activities outside the department’s command chain,” said an email from Tibor Nagy, a current management sub -clearing.

As a sign that the OPM email may have come as a surprise for many agencies, a senior figure in the Ministry of Justice wrote to staff on Saturday night to say: “Media reports indicate that the email is distributed to employees throughout the federal employees Government. ”

The message added that “at this point we have no reason to believe that this message is spam or malicious.”

Later on Saturday evening, a subsequent email was sent to clarify that the OPM message was “legal” and “employees should be ready to follow the instructions as requested.”

The Ministry of Justice’s announcement also came with a warning to the staff: “Do not include sensitive, confidential or classified information in your response. If you have questions about the content of your answer, please contact your manager.

“If we receive additional guidance or information, I will update all employees if needed.”

Other departments, including the Ministry of Defense, the National Security Agency, the Internal Revenue Service and the National Ocean and the Atmosphere, have requested that employees expect additional guidance.

OPM did not immediately respond to the BBC investigation about whether any staff could be released.

The US Federation of Government Officers, the largest union representing federal officials, criticized the message as “cruel and disrespectful” and promised to dispute any “illegal termination” of federal officials.

It is unclear how the message affects any of the approximately three million federal workers who may not have had access to their emails this weekend.

Other civil servants, such as those at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, have been put on leave in the last month.

The email came hours after Trump praised Musk’s work on social media, adding, “I would like to see him become more aggressive.”

Most Republican members of the Congress defend Musk and its wider efforts.

Congressman Mike Lowler of New York told the ABC on Sunday that Musk’s efforts were “an overall, forensic audit of every department and agency in the federal government.”

But Senator John Curtis, a Republican representing a Utah, criticizes Musk’s methods, although he said he supported the ultimate goal of Doge’s efforts.

“If I could say one thing to Elon Musk, as if, please put a dose of compassion in this. These are real people. These are a real life. These are mortgages,” Curtis told CBS.