The Office of Personnel Management told federal officials they could disregard Elon Musk’s email requiring a weekly list to justify their work or lose their jobs, The Washington Post reported.
In late February, Musk sent an email to federal workers requesting them to list five achievements they accomplished during the week.
Multiple U.S. federal agencies told employees not to respond immediately to Musk’s demand.
The Post reported Monday that OPM then told top human resources officers from various agencies that the initiative was voluntary and noncompliance would not be considered a resignation.
An email about the briefing seen by the Post said OPM leaders also told HR officials that the agency did not intend to do anything with the messages submitted by employees.
The media outlet also said a declining number of departments are mandating compliance with Musk’s demand. Other agencies still require employees to submit their weekly accomplishments but are not tracking responses.
For example, the Environmental Protection Agency told employees late last month that responding to Musk’s email was “encouraged, but optional,” and the National Institutes of Health this month told staff that the mandate had ended, the Post reported.
Not all agencies are ignoring Musk’s initial email. The Securities and Exchange Commission often has reminded staff about the request for tasks completed in its daily internal newsletter.
Federal workers were beginning to receive bounce-back emails from their mandated weekly progress reports stating that the federal human resources inbox was full, Bloomberg reported March 25.
Trump named Musk to oversee the advisory Department of Government Efficiency, which was tasked with streamlining government and find waste, abuse and fraud in federal spending.
Politico reported on April 2 that Trump told is inner circle, including some Cabinet members, that Musk will be stepping back from DOGE in the coming weeks.
Musk has used employees’ weekly updates at his companies, which include social platform X, Tesla, and SpaceX.
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