Musk renews firing threat after being stymied by federal officials

WASHINGTON — Elon Musk, President Donald Trump’s point person to root out what he says is government waste, on Monday renewed his threat to fire federal workers who do not comply with his demand to justify their jobs, even after the Trump administration said workers did not have to respond.

The U.S. agency that oversees federal employees said on Monday they could ignore a weekend email from Musk that required them to summarize their work or face losing their jobs. The directive sparked widespread confusion across the federal government and raised questions about how much actual authority Musk, the world’s richest man, possesses within the administration.

As the deadline for response grew near on Monday, Musk, whom Trump appointed to head up a newly named Department of Government Efficiency that Trump has tasked to radically downsize the government, seemed to acknowledge that his plan had run aground.

“The email request was utterly trivial, as the standard for passing the test was to type some words and press send!” Musk posted on X, the social media site he owns. “Yet so many failed even that inane test, urged on in some cases by their managers.”

Musk went on to say, “Subject to the discretion of the president, they will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Musk’s remarks.

It was unclear whether Musk was aware of the guidance the U.S. Office of Personnel Management released earlier on Monday telling human resources officials at federal agencies that employees would not be let go for not replying to Musk’s email – nor were staff required to respond to it.

The memo said responding to the email was voluntary. It also urged employees not to share confidential, sensitive or classified information in their responses, a concern of critics of Musk’s action.

Even after that guidance was issued, some agencies nudged their employees to respond.

A senior manager at the General Services Administration, which manages federal buildings, told employees that the agency was still encouraging workers to answer the email even if it was voluntary, according to a GSA source.

Similarly, the acting director of OPM itself sent an email to the agency’s staff that said responding with bullet points was voluntary “but strongly encouraged.”

The Department of Health and Human Services advised employees that if they chose to reply, they should keep their responses general in nature and that they should refrain from identifying specific drugs or contracts they are working on, according to an email reviewed by Reuters.

“Assume that what you write will be read by malign foreign actors and tailor your response accordingly,” the email said.

Musk’s downsizing initiative, known as DOGE, has rippled into the wider U.S. economy as well, forcing companies that do business with the government to lay off workers and defer payments to vendors.

Musk’s Saturday message took some administration officials by surprise, according to two sources familiar with the situation.

Adding to the confusion, Trump stood by Musk. “I thought it was great,” he told reporters at the White House earlier on Monday. “There was a lot of genius in sending it. We’re trying to find out if people were working.”

In other Monday action, a federal judge blocked the government downsizing team created by Trump and led by Musk from accessing sensitive data maintained by the U.S. Education Department and the OPM.

Unlike Cabinet appointees and appointees to head up independent federal agencies, Musk’s appointment required no approval by the U.S. Senate.

Also on Monday, a group of labor unions that have asked a federal judge to stop the mass firings updated their lawsuit to request that Musk’s email be ruled illegal.