On the evening of February 22, the Trump administration sent emails to the US federal government employees asking them to detail their work achievements for the previous week by the evening of February 24 or risk losing their jobs.
Reuters writes about this.
The letters came shortly after billionaire Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency, posted a message on social media X that failure to respond to an electronic request would be considered a resignation.
"All federal employees will soon receive an email asking them to understand what they did last week. Failure to respond will be considered resignation," he wrote.
As of the evening of February 22, employees of all federal agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, were sent emails with the subject line “What did you do last week?”.
In an email seen by Reuters, employees are asked to respond with five points summarizing "what you did at work last week" and send copies to their managers.
It is unclear on what legal basis Musk has the right to fire federal employees if they do not respond to his request, and what will happen to employees who cannot detail confidential work.
Some employees in the federal judiciary have received similar letters, even though the judiciary is not part of the executive branch, sources said.
Employees at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also received the email. However, most of the agencyʼs employees have been ordered to stop working since earlier this month. In addition, the court has blocked the bureau from resuming mass layoffs until the trial is over.
AFGE, the union representing federal employees, said it would challenge any "illegal dismissals".
- After Donald Trump became the US president, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was launched in Washington under the leadership of billionaire Elon Musk. This structure should increase the efficiency of the American government in a year and a half. As part of the governmentʼs spending cuts, the US government has, among other things, suspended aid programs to other countries and offered federal officials the opportunity to resign and receive compensation.
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