President Donald Trump on Monday praised Elon Musk’s initiative requiring federal employees to submit weekly bullet points outlining their work, calling it ‘a lot of genius.’
He also reinforced the notion that non-compliance could lead to termination.
However, just minutes after Trump’s remarks, a government email clarified that the directive sent to two million federal employees was voluntary and would not result in job loss.
Trump made his comments at the White House alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, following Musk’s controversial directive demanding federal workers justify their work from the previous week or risk termination.
Musk’s move has triggered internal resistance within the Trump administration, particularly among top officials. New FBI Director Kash Patel and other agency heads instructed employees not to respond to the email.
Despite the internal pushback, Trump endorsed Musk’s proposal, stating, “We’re trying to find out if people are working, and so we’re sending a letter to people: Please tell us what you did last week,” as quoted by the DailyMailUK.
“If people don’t respond, it’s very possible that there is no such person or they’re not working. And then if you don’t answer, like you’re sort of semi-fired, or you’re fired, because a lot of people are not answering because they don’t even exist.”
The email, originating from an HR address at the Office of Personnel Management, began reaching federal employees’ inboxes on Saturday, leading to confusion and conflicting responses from senior officials.
Musk had announced the initiative on his X platform, stating: “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.”
Trump appeared to reinforce Musk’s warning that non-compliance could result in dismissal.
Musk, who invested millions in Trump’s election campaign, now leads the Department of Governmental Efficiency. His department is actively reviewing agency operations and advocating for workforce reductions to streamline the federal bureaucracy.
