The Trump administration has sent emails to US federal government employees telling them to describe their work achievements from the previous week by Monday evening or risk losing their jobs.
The emails came shortly after billionaire Elon Musk, who heads the Trump administration’s Office of Government Efficiency, told X that failure to respond to the emails would be considered termination.
“In accordance with President Donald Trump’s instructions, all federal employees will soon receive an email asking them to respond to what they did last week. Failure to respond will be considered termination,” Musk wrote.
The billionaire’s announcement came just hours after President Donald Trump wrote on his social media account Truth Social that the Department of Government Efficiency should be more aggressive in its efforts to downsize and reshape the federal government, which employs 2.3 million people.
Since Saturday night, emails have been sent to employees across federal agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other institutions, with the subject line “What did you do last week?”
The emails, obtained by Reuters, ask employees to answer five questions about “what did you accomplish at work last week?”
The email was sent from a human resources address in the Office of Personnel Management, and employees are given until 11:59 p.m. Monday to respond.
It is unclear what legal basis Musk has for firing federal workers if they don’t respond to his request, and what would happen to employees who can’t describe their jobs because they are classified.
Some federal justice system employees received the email on Saturday, even though the court system is not part of the executive branch, people familiar with the situation said. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the administrative arm of the judiciary, has not yet commented.
Employees at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also received the message.
