On Monday evening, Elon Musk informed federal employees that they had "another chance" to justify their roles or risk losing their jobs. The initial deadline for compliance had already passed later that night, though multiple federal agencies had previously instructed their staff to disregard his initial mandate.
As the wealthiest individual in the world and a key advisor to President Trump, as well as his most significant campaign donor, Musk had originally set a Monday deadline for government employees to submit an email detailing their work contributions.
This latest directive underscores Musk’s ongoing push to reform federal operations as head of the White House’s recently established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The department is focused on cutting federal workforce numbers and curbing government expenditures.
"Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance," Musk stated on X, the platform he owns, on Monday evening. "Failure to respond a second time will result in termination," he continued, though he did not specify a revised deadline.
There has been no official disclosure regarding how many employees met the initial deadline.
The deadline’s arrival led to widespread confusion among federal employees, many of whom were already concerned. Several agencies, including some managed by prominent Trump allies, advised employees to ignore the directive—at least for the time being.
Among the agencies that instructed employees to disregard the order were the Justice Department, the FBI, the State Department, the Pentagon, the Department of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Conversely, the Transportation Department, the Education Department, the Department of Commerce, and the National Transportation Safety Board urged their employees to comply with the directive.
The office responsible for instructing federal workers to outline five of their most recent accomplishments clarified on Monday that individual agencies could decide their own approach to Musk’s directive, despite his warning.
According to two officials speaking to CBS News, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the federal government’s human resources authority, held a call with personnel officials from various agencies. OPM reportedly informed them that each agency could determine how they wished to respond to the directive that was issued on Saturday.
DOGE has been encountering growing opposition to its cost-cutting initiatives, including legal challenges and resistance from lawmakers.
Over two million federal employees received an email from OPM, instructing them to submit "approximately 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week" before the Monday night deadline.
This directive followed Musk’s earlier post on X, in which he stated that "all federal workers" would receive the email and warned that "failure to respond will be taken as a resignation."
As uncertainty spread regarding the potential consequences of non-compliance, President Trump backed Musk’s decision, labeling it "ingenious" for its ability to determine whether "people are working."
"If people don't respond, it's very possible that there is no such person or they're not working," Trump remarked to reporters.
Non-responders, he added, would be "sort of semi-fired" or fully dismissed, though he did not elaborate further on what he meant.
On Monday, Musk described the initial email as "basically a check to see if the employee had a pulse and was capable of replying to an email."
"This mess will get sorted out this week. Lot of people in for a rude awakening and strong dose of reality. They don't get it yet, but they will," he added on X.
The directive quickly faced backlash from labor unions, with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest federal employee union, pledging to challenge any unlawful terminations.
Even within President Trump’s own Republican party, which controls both chambers of Congress, concerns have begun emerging.
"If I could say one thing to Elon Musk, it's like, 'Please put a dose of compassion in this,'" remarked Senator John Curtis of Utah, a state home to 33,000 federal employees.
"These are real people. These are real lives. These are mortgages," Curtis said on "Face the Nation."
Meanwhile, numerous lawsuits challenging Musk’s directive have produced mixed outcomes. Some judges have denied requests for immediate injunctions against his executive orders, while others have yet to rule definitively.
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