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Top officials of the Donald Trump administration, including new FBI director Kash Patel, have reportedly instructed their employees to "blow off" an email sent by the Office of Personnel Management asking them to "justify" their jobs.
Knewz.com has learned that failure to respond to the email will be viewed as a resignation of that employee, according to a warning by Trump advisor Elon Musk.
The tech tycoon is spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) tasked with scanning the federal government for areas where it can identify and remove what it deems as unnecessary government expenditures.
The latest email from the Office of Personnel Management came as the federal workforce struggles with the effects of the Musk-led department, which has slashed jobs and created turmoil over job security, including the recent termination of thousands of probationary employees.
Before the emails were sent out, Musk wrote a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, which mentioned that it is imperative that the employees respond to the email accordingly as their jobs depend on it.
"Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week," the Tesla CEO's post on X read.
"Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation," the post added.
The said email was sent from the new email address of the Office of Personnel Management late on Saturday, February 22, with the subject line “What did you do last week?”
"Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager. Please do not send any classified information, links, or attachments," the email demanded.
Notably, the email blast itself does not mention that the failure to answer will be taken as resignation, but only states that the deadline for submission is Monday at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Michael Fallings, a federal employment law expert and managing partner at Tully Rinckey, said in a statement that Musk can’t force federal employees to resign, and that "attempting to do so would amount to an involuntary termination."
"Musk’s comment lacks legal authority," the expert said, adding that demanding a report on the work done by federal employees is an “unreasonable and unnecessary request.”
Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 800,000 federal workers, said in a statement:
"It is cruel and disrespectful to hundreds of thousands of veterans who are wearing their second uniform in the civil service to be forced to justify their job duties to this out-of-touch, privileged, unelected billionaire who has never performed one single hour of honest public service in his life."
NBC's Ken Dilanian shared an email from FBI Director Patel, which asked Bureau employees to ignore Musk's "productivity inquiry" email.
"FBI personnel may have received an email from OPM requesting information. The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all of our review processes, and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures. When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses," the email from Director Patel read.
Notably, other State Department leaders have also advised their staff members to not respond to Musk's order.
Musk's order came days after the DOGE was sued by 14 states, alleging that the department's efforts to slash government spending are "unconstitutional."
It has been reported that the coalition includes Arizona, Michigan, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, in addition to New Mexico.
The states have demanded that the court stop the tech billionaire from "making changes to the disbursement of public funds, government contracts, regulations or personnel, as well as receiving access to or altering data systems," according to reports.
The states wrote in the filing:
"Mr. Musk’s seemingly limitless and unchecked power to strip the government of its workforce and eliminate entire departments with the stroke of a pen or click of a mouse would have been shocking to those who won this country’s independence."
"There is no office of the United States, other than the President, with the full power of the Executive Branch, and the sweeping authority now vested in a single unelected and unconfirmed individual is antithetical to the nation’s entire constitutional structure," the filing further stated, per reports.
Regarding the lawsuit filed by the 14 states, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said in a statement:
"Our constitutional order was founded in part to guard against the accumulation of state power in the hands of a single individual, and while that construction was first focused on the abuse of power of an 18th century monarch, it is no less dangerous in the hands of a 21st century tech tycoon."