Musk Reaffirms His "5 Things" Requirement Amid Apparent Endorsement from Trump
“The billionaire warned, 'Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.'”
TroibNews 
An assertive Elon Musk is once again demanding that federal employees justify their roles in writing—or face the possibility of losing their jobs.
Musk reiterated this demand in a social media post on Monday after President Donald Trump appeared to support it, countering other senior administration officials who had raised concerns. “Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance,” Musk wrote on X. “Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.”
Over the weekend, Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency sent out an email to federal agencies with the subject line "What did you do last week.” This communication sparked confusion and anxiety among employees, especially following Musk's declaration on X that a lack of response would be “taken as a resignation.”
Several agency leaders, including FBI Director Kash Patel and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, informed their teams that replies were unnecessary. Additionally, the Office of Personnel Management later clarified that responding to the email was “voluntary.”
As the head of DOGE, Musk has aimed to significantly reduce the federal workforce, resulting in thousands of layoffs and threats to eliminate entire agencies. It remains uncertain what legal authority he possesses regarding the termination of federal employees who do not comply with his requests.
Trump applauded Musk’s strategy on Monday, stating, “I thought it was great because we have people that don’t show up to work and nobody even knows if they work for the government.” He also supported some agency heads who advised their staff to disregard the email due to confidentiality concerns, explaining, “They’re just saying there are some people that you don’t want to really have them tell you what they’re working on last week.”
Musk’s email quickly sparked significant backlash from lawmakers and labor unions over the weekend. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries criticized Musk, stating, “Elon Musk is traumatizing hardworking federal employees, their children and families. He has no legal authority to make his latest demands. We will block him in Congress and in the Courts. Again.”
Everett Kelley, the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 800,000 federal workers, condemned Musk’s “chaotic and callous treatment of federal employees,” calling the original directive a "cynical attempt" to intimidate employees into resigning.
Brittany Holder, a spokesperson for AFGE, also expressed disdain for the latest directive. “If we took the time to comment on each and every ridiculous thing that Elon Musk tweets out, we'd never get any work done,” she said. "Our stance will forever remain the same, AFGE will challenge any unlawful discipline, termination or retaliation against our members and federal employees across the country."
Anna Muller contributed to this report for TROIB News
Musk reiterated this demand in a social media post on Monday after President Donald Trump appeared to support it, countering other senior administration officials who had raised concerns. “Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance,” Musk wrote on X. “Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.”
Over the weekend, Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency sent out an email to federal agencies with the subject line "What did you do last week.” This communication sparked confusion and anxiety among employees, especially following Musk's declaration on X that a lack of response would be “taken as a resignation.”
Several agency leaders, including FBI Director Kash Patel and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, informed their teams that replies were unnecessary. Additionally, the Office of Personnel Management later clarified that responding to the email was “voluntary.”
As the head of DOGE, Musk has aimed to significantly reduce the federal workforce, resulting in thousands of layoffs and threats to eliminate entire agencies. It remains uncertain what legal authority he possesses regarding the termination of federal employees who do not comply with his requests.
Trump applauded Musk’s strategy on Monday, stating, “I thought it was great because we have people that don’t show up to work and nobody even knows if they work for the government.” He also supported some agency heads who advised their staff to disregard the email due to confidentiality concerns, explaining, “They’re just saying there are some people that you don’t want to really have them tell you what they’re working on last week.”
Musk’s email quickly sparked significant backlash from lawmakers and labor unions over the weekend. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries criticized Musk, stating, “Elon Musk is traumatizing hardworking federal employees, their children and families. He has no legal authority to make his latest demands. We will block him in Congress and in the Courts. Again.”
Everett Kelley, the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 800,000 federal workers, condemned Musk’s “chaotic and callous treatment of federal employees,” calling the original directive a "cynical attempt" to intimidate employees into resigning.
Brittany Holder, a spokesperson for AFGE, also expressed disdain for the latest directive. “If we took the time to comment on each and every ridiculous thing that Elon Musk tweets out, we'd never get any work done,” she said. "Our stance will forever remain the same, AFGE will challenge any unlawful discipline, termination or retaliation against our members and federal employees across the country."
Anna Muller contributed to this report for TROIB News
