Elon Musk has announced that all US federal employees will need to justify their work or risk losing their jobs, shortly after President Donald Trump urged him to be “more aggressive” in reducing government spending.
Mr. Musk, who is the world’s wealthiest individual and Mr. Trump’s largest donor, has spearheaded efforts to dismiss a significant number of government workers.
“All federal employees will soon receive an email asking them to detail their accomplishments from last week. A failure to respond will be interpreted as a resignation,” Mr. Musk stated.
According to an email shared with AFP, federal employees are required to provide “approximately 5 bullets of what you achieved last week.”
Demonstrators gather for a protest against Elon Musk
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest union for federal workers, pledged to contest any unlawful dismissals, as expressed in a statement from national president Everett Kelley.
Mr. Kelley criticized Mr. Musk and the Trump administration, asserting that this action reflects “their complete disregard for federal employees and the essential services they deliver to the American public.”
“It is both cruel and disrespectful to the hundreds of thousands of veterans currently serving in civil service to be compelled to justify their job roles to this disconnected, privileged, unelected billionaire who has never engaged in a single hour of genuine public service,” he remarked.
Read more: Nearly 10,000 fired as Trump and Musk ramp up reductions
Several federal employees informed AFP that they were advised by their agencies to refrain from responding to the email and to await further guidance, a suggestion also supported by the National Treasury Employees Union.
‘More aggressive’
Mr. Trump stated on his Truth Social platform that Mr. Musk is “doing a great job, but I would like to see him become more aggressive.”
“Remember, we have a country to save,” added the Republican leader.
Mr. Trump has placed the tech entrepreneur in charge of the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) advisory body, assigning him the task of cutting public expenditures and addressing alleged waste and corruption.
Following a recent announcement, the US Defense Department will reduce its civilian workforce by at least 5% beginning next week.
Donald Trump said he ‘would like to see’ Elon Musk ‘get more aggressive’
Mr. Trump’s administration has already initiated the process of terminating numerous other federal employees who are currently in probationary status.
DOGE operates as a broadly defined entity managed by Mr. Musk, although its cost-saving initiatives have faced opposition on multiple fronts and varied court decisions.
A judge ruled on Thursday against a union’s attempt to temporarily stop the termination of thousands of workers.
This week, Mr. Musk stated that he would collaborate with Mr. Trump for as long as he could “be beneficial,” even as both dismissed concerns regarding potential conflicts of interest related to the tycoon’s government contracts.
“Elon is doing an excellent job,” Mr. Trump remarked at a gathering of conservative activists yesterday, recounting a list of what he claimed to be “some of the blatant scams” that had been uncovered.
“We love Elon, don’t we? He’s quite a character,” President Trump added. “When people ask, what official position does he hold? I say, ‘Patriot’.”
This week, Mr. Musk mentioned that DOGE is making its activities public on its website, emphasizing that the transparency would ensure his accountability.
