Elon Musk States That All U.S. Government Employees Must Justify Their Roles Or Face Job Termination

Elon Musk states that all U.S. government employees must justify their roles or face job termination.

Elon Musk, the billionaire advisor to former President Donald Trump, declared on Saturday that all U.S. federal employees must justify their work or face job termination. This announcement came shortly after Trump urged Musk to be “more aggressive” in cutting government spending.

Musk, the world's richest person and a significant donor to Trump, has taken the lead in pushing for widespread reductions in the federal workforce. He stated that “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,” according to his message.

A copy of the email shared with AFP shows that federal employees were instructed to list “approximately five bullet points of what you accomplished last week.” The email was sent by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management with the subject line “What did you do last week?” and required responses by 11:59 pm on Monday. The message did not specifically mention termination as a consequence for failure to reply.

Earlier, Trump expressed support for Musk on his Truth Social platform, saying, “Musk is doing a great job, but I’d like to see him get more aggressive,” adding, “Remember, we have a country to save.”

Trump had appointed Musk to oversee the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where Musk's task is to slash government spending, eliminate waste, and address corruption concerns. Recently, the Department of Defense announced plans to reduce its civilian workforce by at least 5% starting next week. Additionally, the Trump administration has already begun firing probationary federal employees.

DOGE, a relatively independent body run by Musk, has faced resistance to its sweeping cuts, along with mixed legal rulings. A judge recently rejected a union’s attempt to temporarily block the dismissal of thousands of federal workers.

Musk stated this week that he would work with Trump “as long as I can be helpful” and dismissed concerns about potential conflicts of interest due to his government contracts. Trump, speaking at a gathering of conservative activists on Saturday, reiterated his praise for Musk, calling him “a great job” and noting the uncovering of what he described as “some of the flagrant scams” in government.

“We love Elon, don’t we? He’s a character,” Trump said, adding that when asked about Musk’s official position, he described him simply as “Patriot.” Musk later emphasized that DOGE would continue to publicize its actions on its website to ensure transparency and hold him accountable.