Some confusion over the email by Elon Musk for federal workers to justify their positions has led to a reprieve of sorts.
The workers were sent an email Saturday with the subject line “What did you do last week.”
He added that failure to respond would be “taken as a resignation,” per Politico.
The head of the Department of Government Efficiency posted on X Monday in the hopes of clarifying any confusion.
“Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance,” Musk posted. “Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.”
The confusion that ensued involved FBI Director Kash Patel and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who told their employees they did not have to reply to the email. The Office of Personnel Management also said the directive was “voluntary.”
One of Musk’s missions has been to reduce the number of workers in the federal government and has threaten to cut agencies completely.
However, some question Musk’s authority to cut any positions if they do not comply with the directive.
President Donald Trump had words of praise for Musk’s boldness Monday.
“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,” Trump said.
At the same time, the president also justified those department heads who told their staff not to comply due to confidentiality reasons.
“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,” Trump said.
Musk’s email was not met with a warm reception over the weekend and was criticized by lawmakers and unions.
One lawmaker was House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
“Elon Musk is traumatizing hardworking federal employees, their children and families,” Jeffries said Sunday. “He has no legal authority to make his latest demands. We will block him in Congress and in the Courts. Again.”
Brittany Holder, a spokesperson for AFGE, took aim at how this is a waste of time.
“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.”
