Trump administration rolls back Elon Musk’s email telling federal employees to justify their jobs
US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk attend a press conference in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington
By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN
(CNN) — Federal employees will no longer have to meet Elon Musk’s demand that they list their weekly accomplishments in an email or risk termination, the Trump administration said Tuesday.
“We communicated with agency HR leads that OPM was no longer going to manage the five things process nor utilize it internally,” Office of Personnel Management Scott Kupor said in a statement. “At OPM, we believe that managers are accountable to staying informed about what their team members are working on and have many other existing tools to do so.”
OPM, which is essentially the human resources department of the federal government, also said it “plans to support agencies as they transition to rigorous performance management to include regular check-ins.”
Federal workers began receiving emails in February asking them to explain what work they did during the week.
“Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk posted on X that month. The tech billionaire also said “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
It came hours after President Donald Trump suggested the tech billionaire, who was granted special government employee status to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, be more “aggressive.”
The emails — sent with the subject line “What did you do last week?” — caused widespread confusion, with contradictory guidance leaving many federal workers unsure of how to handle the request.
“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 continued as CNN previously reported. Many were sent with high importance or red exclamation marks.
OPM later the same month notified agencies that responding was voluntary and that any failure to respond would “not equate to a resignation.”
The move to end the email ultimatum comes roughly two months after Musk said his time in the Trump administration had come “to an end.”
Discord between Musk and Trump had erupted in June when the two clashed over the president’s massive tax and domestic policy bill. Trump said he was “very disappointed” in Musk who said he would form a new political party after the falling out.
Reuters first reported the plan to formally stop sending the email.
The-CNN-Wire
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