Trump Officials Finally Push Back Against Musk Over Saturday Night Email

And now the billionaire-in-chief, predictably, is melting down about it on Twitter.

By Kylie Cheung  |  February 24, 2025 | 12:34pm
Photo: Getty Images Politics
Trump Officials Finally Push Back Against Musk Over Saturday Night Email

Elon Musk, who made his fortune off a mix of shady generational wealth, buying and co-opting other people’s ideas, and denying his workers living wages, is the last person to whom anyone should have to justify their job. But nonetheless, that’s precisely what the unelected billionaire demanded of all federal employees on Saturday night, when most people (but obviously not Musk) were spending time away from work, via an email requiring workers to name five accomplishments from the 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 read, accompanied by the condescending subject line, “What did you do last week?” 

Musk didn’t sign the message, which came from a generic human resources email at the federal Office of Personnel Management, but it came just minutes after he tweeted that federal employees would “shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week.” Plus, the email went out minutes after President Donald Trump tweeted at him to get more “aggressive.” Musk then warned (on Twitter, of course) that anyone who ignored the email was tendering their resignation (even though the email itself doesn’t state this).

Somewhat surprisingly, many Trump appointees who had thus far rolled with Musk’s chaotic attempts to reconfigure the federal government pushed back. The FBI, Defense Department, Department of Homeland Security, State Department, Department of Health and Human Services, and a few other agencies told their employees to disregard Musk’s Saturday email.

In response, Musk appears to be melting down on Twitter, saying on Sunday that it was “EXTREMELY troubling that some parts of government think this is TOO MUCH!! What is wrong with them??”

The “parts of the government” that see his email as overreach include Kash Patel, the newly confirmed far-right director of the FBI. “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,” Patel wrote in a bureau-wide email on Saturday night. (CNN on Monday morning published emails from Patel and other agency heads.)

“The Department of Defense is responsible for reviewing the performance of its personnel and will conduct any review in accordance with its own procedures,” Darin Selnick, acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, wrote to Defense Department employees on Sunday. “When and if required, the department will coordinate responses to the email you have received from OPM. For now, please pause any response to the OPM email titled ‘What did you do last week.’”

Health and Human Services, run by the newly sworn in Robert F. Kennedy Jr., initially told employees to comply with the email, but by Sunday afternoon, they were instructed to “pause” their responses. Homeland Security Deputy Undersecretary for Management R.D. Alles wrote to department employees, “DHS management will respond on behalf of the department and all of its component offices. No reporting action from you is needed at this time. For now, please pause any responses outside of your DHS chain of command.”

The State Department’s acting undersecretary of management, Tibor Nagy, wrote a similar email to staffers: “The State Department will respond on behalf of the Department. No employee is obligated to report their activities outside their Department chain of command.”

Employees at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)—which Musk and Trump are furiously working to destroy—also received the email, despite being told to stop working earlier this month. But acting CFPB head Russell Vought emailed employees anyway, saying that “CFPB Leadership understands that certain work tasks have stopped. If you were not able to perform tasks/work as a result, you may reply and simply reference that you were complying with the current work stoppage.” 

No one actually deserves credit for defying this, one of Musk’s most bonkers directives yet. Rather, this is just a testament to Musk’s stellar failure to read the room or utilize any level of strategic thinking.

Ed Martin, the interim Washington, D.C., U.S. attorney who threatened legal action against anyone who so much as named Musk’s DOGE employees earlier this month, told employees to be “happy” to respond to Musk’s email, even as he seemingly acknowledged that much of the work conducted within U.S. attorney offices is confidential: “Please respond to the HR email carefully with regard to confidentiality and our duties. Be general if you need to. If anyone gives you problems, I’ve got your back. You’re good.”

Meanwhile, as screenshots of the email from Musk spread far and wide on social media, some users have been trying to reach Musk at [email protected], sending him their own five achievements. “Got blitzed on ketamine, ignored my children, tweeted 1,782 times, wore weird sunglasses inside, got humiliated by astronauts,” wrote one user. Hmm, sounds familiar! 

Incidentally, at the same time that Musk sent the email to federal employees over the weekend, reports surfaced that conservative influencer Ashley St. Clair is suing Musk for sole custody of their shared child, whom Musk has yet to publicly acknowledge. St. Clair claims that Musk, who wasn’t present for the child’s birth, has only spent a few hours with him and never asks for photos. Instead, Musk would rather spend his time harassing federal employees.

 
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