Musk Says 'Report Your Work Performance' - Even 'Trump-Loyal' Department Heads Push Back

Despite Trump's 'Active Support' Declaration

FBI and National Intelligence Say 'Don't Respond'

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla who leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), sent an email to 2.3 million federal government employees requesting them to report their work performance. While he warned that those who fail to prove their productivity might lose their jobs, it's reported that some departments instructed their employees to ignore this request. As the federal government experiences internal confusion, analysts suggest that tensions between Musk and administration officials are intensifying.

On the 23rd (local time), Musk sent an email through the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to federal government employees asking 'What did you do last week?' The email instructed them to submit five items detailing their performance from the previous week by 11:59 PM on the 24th. Hours before sending the email, Musk posted on X (formerly Twitter) stating, 'All federal employees will receive an email explaining what they did last week,' adding that 'failure to respond will be considered resignation.' However, the email itself did not contain any resignation-related content.

Previously, President Donald Trump had backed Musk. Trump posted on his social media account that 'Musk needs to be more aggressive in his role.' Some suggest that Musk's behavior pattern is similar to how he pressured employees when acquiring Twitter in 2022.

Despite Trump's support, departments receiving Musk's email strongly pushed back. Even department heads issued directions to ignore the email. FBI Director Kathy Patel stated, 'While FBI personnel may have received emails from OPM requesting information, FBI will review internally through its own procedures,' instructing to 'hold off on responding (to the email) for now.' DNI Director Tulsi Gabbard also told employees through an internal message that 'Given the sensitivity and confidentiality level of our work, intelligence agency workers should not respond to the OPM email.' At the State Department, Acting Under Secretary for Management Tibor Nagy informed employees that 'No employee is obligated to report their activities outside the chain of command' and that 'the State Department will respond directly.'

Some question whether OPM, responsible for sending the email, can actually review millions of emails from federal employees. DOGE had previously laid off dozens of OPM employees. Security concerns about OPM were also raised. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), HHS Legal Counsel Sean Keveny pointed out, 'OPM has been a target of (hacking) by China in the past' and that 'we haven't received assurance that appropriate protective measures are in place to protect email responses.'

New York=Special Correspondent Park Sin-young nyusos@hankyung.com