A growing rift between Elon Musk and several Trump administration agency heads emerged Sunday after Musk demanded all federal employees provide a summary of their weekly work or risk termination. The directive, sent via email from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), instructed workers to submit a five-bullet-point report on their accomplishments, with a deadline of 11:59 p.m. Monday.
By Sunday evening, officials at the Pentagon, FBI, State Department, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Energy had issued guidance instructing their employees not to respond, contradicting Musk's widely publicized mandate. The backlash marks the first major pushback from within the administration against Musk, who has been tasked with overhauling the federal government as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
"The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all of our review processes and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures," FBI Director Kash Patel wrote in an internal memo. "When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses."
The Department of Defense issued a similar directive. "The Department of Defense is responsible for reviewing the performance of its personnel and will conduct any review in accordance with its own procedures," Acting Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Darin Selnick stated. "For now, please pause any response to the OPM email."
Musk, who announced the initiative on social media Saturday, showed no signs of backing down. "EXTREMELY troubling that some parts of government think this is TOO MUCH!!" he posted on X. "What is wrong with them??"
The dispute highlights mounting tensions between Musk and senior Trump officials over the billionaire's sweeping efforts to reform the federal workforce. Musk has spearheaded aggressive changes, including mass terminations, a rollback of civil service protections, and strict return-to-office policies. His latest initiative, however, appears to have crossed a line with some of Trump's own appointees.
The email directive triggered immediate confusion among federal employees, many of whom questioned its legality and scope. Some agencies initially instructed workers to comply before reversing course. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), for example, told employees Sunday morning to respond, only to later retract the guidance.
Homeland Security officials received an email from Deputy Under Secretary for Management R.D. Alles instructing them to ignore the OPM email. "DHS management will respond on behalf of the department and all of its component offices," the message stated. "No reporting action from you is needed at this time."
The State Department issued similar guidance. "No employee is obligated to report their activities outside of their Department chain of command," read an internal memo.
Despite the internal resistance, Trump appeared to double down on Musk's efforts. The president posted a meme mocking government workers, listing their supposed weekly activities as "cried about Trump, cried about Elon, made it into the office for once, read some emails, cried about Trump and Elon some more."
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) criticized Musk's approach, calling the email "absurd." "If Elon Musk truly wants to understand what federal workers accomplished over the past week, he should get to know each department and agency, and learn about the jobs he's trying to cut," she wrote on X.
Other Republican lawmakers voiced concerns about the directive's tone. "If I could say one thing to Elon Musk, it's, 'Please put a dose of compassion in this. These are real people. These are real lives,'" said Senator John Curtis (R-Utah) during a Sunday interview on CBS' Face the Nation.
Democrats and labor unions condemned the directive as illegal. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents more than 800,000 federal workers, accused Musk of "traumatizing hardworking federal employees." AFGE President Everett Kelley said the union is preparing legal action. "It is cruel and disrespectful to hundreds of thousands of veterans who are wearing their second uniform in the civil service to be forced to justify their job duties to an out-of-touch, privileged, unelected billionaire," he said.
Legal experts have raised concerns about Musk's authority to enforce the ultimatum. "Elon Musk has no authority. He's not in the chain of command of these employees," said Mark Maxin, a federal employment attorney with nearly four decades of experience. "A threat of dismissal would likely fit the definition of coercion."
