Elon Musk announced that all federal employees must respond to an email requesting them to list five accomplishments from the previous week. Musk made this statement in a February 22 post on X.
"Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump 's instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week," said Musk. "Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation."
According to the New York Post, Musk's directive is part of President Trump's initiative to streamline government operations. Federal employees were required to submit their lists, with non-compliance considered as resignation. Despite an initial deadline and some confusion, over 1 million federal employees—less than half of the workforce—responded. Others were advised by agency heads to disregard the directive due to national security and procedural concerns.
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Musk later eased his stance, offering a second chance for compliance. The White House defended the initiative as a measure for greater accountability in government work. "What he’s doing is saying ‘Are you actually working?’" President Trump said, according to the New York Post.
"The email request was utterly trivial, as the standard for passing the test was to type some words and press send!" Musk later said on X. "Yet so many failed even that inane test, urged on in some cases by their managers."
DOGE, a federal agency focused on optimizing government spending and ensuring accountability in contract management, reported total savings of $65 billion since its inception. This has been achieved through fraud elimination, contract cancellations or renegotiations, asset sales, grant terminations, workforce reductions, program adjustments, and regulatory efficiencies. Efforts are underway to present this data transparently with clear assumptions and compliance with applicable rules.