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#ElonMusk deepened the confusion & alarm of workers across the #FederalGovernment Saturday by ordering them to summarize their accomplishments for the week, warning that a failure to do so would be taken as a resignation.

Shortly after #Musk’s demand, which he posted on X, #CivilServants across the government received an email from the Office of Personnel Management with the subject line, “What did you do last week?”

The missive simultaneously hit inboxes across multiple #FederalAgencies, rattling workers who had been rocked by #layoffs in recent weeks & were unsure about whether to respond to #Musk’s demand. Ofcls at some agencies, including the #FBI, told their employees to pause any responses to the email for now.

Musk’s mounting pressure on the federal work force came at the encouragement of #Trump, who has been trumpeting how the billionaire has upended the bureaucracy…

#KashPatel, the new #FBI director wrote in an email to staff not to respond to #Musk’s email writing, “The F.B.I., through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all of our review processes, & will conduct reviews in accordance with F.B.I. procedures…. When & if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses.”

“Please reply to this email w/approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished this week & cc your manager,” said the #OPM msg that went out to federal employees. The email told employees to respond by midnight on Mon….

The email was received by workers across the government, including at the #FBI, the #State Dept, the #EPA, the Office of Personnel Management, the #FDA, the #Veterans Affairs Dept [#VA], the Centers for #Medicare & #Medicaid Services & the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau [#CFPB]…

For rank-and-file workers, the latest move by #Musk underscored a climate of #instability & #fear inside the #FederalGovernment. One staff member at the National Institutes of Health, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation, said she was shocked by the message, which she said left her with a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. When she found out more of the context, she said, she messaged a colleague: “They’re terrorizing us.”

In response to #Musk’s demand, the #AFGE, the largest federal employee #union, said it would challenge any “unlawful” terminations. The union told workers that it “strongly believes” #OPM did not have the authority to direct employees in this way & advised them to seek guidance from a supervisor.

“Once again, #ElonMusk & the #Trump admin have shown their utter disdain for federal employees & the critical services they provide to the American people,” Everett Kelley, the union’s president, said…

“There is zero basis in the #CivilService system for this,” said Sam Bagenstos, a #law prof at the University of Michigan & a fmr general counsel to the OMB. “This is obviously designed to intimidate employees. #Musk & #DOGE & the #Trump admin are persistently acting in a way that disregards civil service rules & they are just counting on the courts not being able to catch up & clean up after them.

“They are counting on employees saying, ‘This is too much, I can’t keep doing this,’” he added.

@Nonilex

• I watched out for spam emails

• I seriously considered looking for a different job

• I decided to catch up on personal correspondence

• I ate lunch with 22 of my co-workers who are considering going on disability

• Filled out my time card, and looked for the best places to hide out. I was unable to cc my manager because she was laid off and no one is willing to take her place.