By Valerie Volcovici
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Trump administration despatched emails on Saturday night to U.S. federal authorities staff telling them to element their work accomplishments from the earlier week by Monday evening or threat shedding their jobs.
The emails got here shortly after Elon Musk, the billionaire head of the Trump administration’s Division of Authorities Effectivity, posted on the social media web site X that not responding to the e-mail request can be seen as a resignation.
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“All federal staff will shortly obtain an e-mail requesting to know what they acquired achieved final week,” Musk posted on X. “Failure to reply can be taken as a resignation.”
Musk’s submit got here simply hours after President Donald Trump posted on his personal social media community, Reality Social, that DOGE ought to get extra aggressive in its makes an attempt to downsize and reshape the federal workforce.
As of Saturday night, emails had been despatched to staff throughout federal businesses, together with the Securities and Alternate Fee, Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention and others with the topic line, “What did you do final week?”
The e-mail, seen by Reuters, asks staff to answer with 5 bullet factors summarizing “what you completed at work final week,” and to repeat their managers.
The e-mail, which was despatched from a human assets deal with from the Workplace of Personnel Administration, provides staff till 11:59 p.m. EST on Monday to reply.
It’s unclear what authorized foundation Musk has to terminate federal staff in the event that they fail to answer his request and what would occur to staff that can’t element confidential work.
Staff on the Client Monetary Safety Bureau additionally acquired the e-mail, in response to individuals with information of the matter. Nevertheless, most company workers had been ordered to not carry out any duties since early this month, making a conundrum. The company can also be underneath momentary courtroom order to not resume mass firings pending the result of authorized proceedings.
A spokesperson for DOGE didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
UNION PROMISES FIGHT
The AFGE, the union representing federal staff, mentioned in an announcement it can problem any “illegal terminations.”
“As soon as once more, Elon Musk and the Trump administration have proven their utter disdain for federal staff and the vital companies they supply to the American individuals,” mentioned AFGE nationwide president Everett Kelley.
The Trump administration’s fast-paced and controversial course of to scale back authorities spending by shrinking the federal workforce led by Musk and his younger aides on the cost-cutting DOGE has led to haphazard firings that resulted in quite a few errors and compelled a number of businesses to shortly rehire very important staff, similar to these engaged on nuclear security, protection and energy technology.
The primary wave of job cuts has focused staff who’re simpler to fireplace, similar to probationary staff on the job for lower than two years or those that have began new roles inside an company.
The indiscriminate firings have led to DOGE terminating individuals whose jobs are usually not funded by taxpayers and have begun to anger individuals throughout the nation who’re involved a few lack of companies and the affect of federal job losses on native economies.
Trump has repeatedly talked about Musk because the practical chief of DOGE, which isn’t a cabinet-level division, however the White Home mentioned in a courtroom submitting this month that Musk had no authority over DOGE and was not an worker of this system.
Some federal businesses despatched follow-up emails to staff advising workers not to answer the e-mail over the weekend as they assess its validity and devise a protocol for responding to the message.
“To be clear, that is irregular, surprising and warrants additional validation by administration,” mentioned one e-mail despatched to NOAA staff seen by Reuters.
The Govt Workplace for United States Attorneys additionally despatched an e-mail, seen by Reuters, to staff, advising them to attend to reply till they confirm the validity of the emails.
(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; further reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Douglas Gillison in Washington and Chris Prentice in New York; Enhancing by Paul Simao and Rod Nickel)
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