A new policy requiring federal employees to report their weekly productivity or be considered resigned is being rolled out, with Elon Musk leading the charge. The effort aligns with President Donald Trump’s executive order to reduce the size of the federal workforce.
Musk made the announcement on X, stating that government employees will soon receive an email asking them to detail their accomplishments. If an employee does not reply, their lack of response will be interpreted as a resignation.
Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week.
Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 22, 2025
Trump’s recent executive order set the stage for this policy, directing federal agencies to cut excess positions and improve efficiency. The Office of Management and Budget has been tasked with developing a strategy to shrink government employment.
To be clear, the bar is very low here.
An email with some bullet points that make any sense at all is acceptable!
Should take less than 5 mins to write. https://t.co/MTL1wyzaxd
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 23, 2025
Agencies have already started implementing layoffs. The Office of Personnel Management has ordered cuts affecting probationary employees in multiple departments, including consumer protections and veterans’ affairs.
That would be a very impressive and long list indeed for you!
However, the passing grade is literally just “Can you send an email with words that make any sense at all?”.
It’s a low bar. https://t.co/D3AlfUfdeQ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 23, 2025
At the Pentagon, approximately 5,400 civilian probationary employees are being dismissed. Separately, the Department of Health and Human Services has laid off about 3,600 workers.
Videos like this are all over TikTok, am I missing something here with the Elon Musk emails?
I feel like listing 5 things you worked on should be easy? I feel like you should be able to easily do that daily? Some jobs you have to. pic.twitter.com/PW8uomuiC4
— Sarah Sansoni (@sarahsansoni) February 23, 2025
Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has also uncovered significant federal spending, revealing that agencies are managing millions of active credit cards and processing billions in transactions annually.
