On Saturday, all federal employees received an email entitled “What did you do last week?” from the US Office of Personnel Management. The 35-word email instructed employees to provide a brief and bulleted list of five things they had accomplished that week, with their manager cc’ed.
While the email did not list repercussions related to responding, or not responding, it created panic within the federal workforce and government agencies. The situation was heightened when Elon Musk, seemingly in his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), announced via X that “failure to respond will be taken as resignation.” Employees were given until midnight on Monday to compile their list, a task that should not take more than five minutes, according to a follow-up tweet from Musk.
Defense Department Statement on OPM Mail Guidance. pic.twitter.com/fq8V7ltI2A
— Department of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) February 23, 2025
Within a minute of the OPM email, a spokesperson for the Department of Defense instructed employees to ignore the instruction in an email obtained by the Observer.
“The Department of Defense is responsible for reviewing the performance of its personnel and it will conduct any review in accordance with its own procedures,” wrote Darin Selnick, who is labeled as "Performing the Duties of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness" in the email. “When and if required, the Department will coordinate responses to the email you have received from OPM. For now, pause any response to the OPM email titled 'What did you do last week.'”
While some scramble to formulate their lists, different agencies are alerting their employees to ignore the email. Kash Patel, the newly appointed director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, followed suit in instructing employees to hold off on responding. "The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all of our review processes, and will conduct reviews in accordance with the FBI procedures. When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses,” Patel wrote in a statement obtained by CBS News.
As different agencies have reportedly pointed out in their communications over the past few days, the OPM cannot terminate employees who do not respond directly to the agency. The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union representing more than 800,000 government employees, sent an email to union members critiquing the sweeping overstep from OPM.
“While a message on X from Elon Musk suggested that failure to respond would be considered a resignation, the OPM email itself does not contain this threat, and there is no known authority for Mr. Musk to make this claim,” wrote AFGE national President Everett Kelley in a separate email sent to union members obtained by the Observer. “AFGE strongly believes this email was sent illegitimately and that OPM lacks the authority to direct the assignment of work to agency employees in this manner.”
The AFGE recommends federal employees follow the directives of their superiors. A source told the Observer that certain Department of Defense employees, like engineers, have been instructed to respond to the email, while healthcare providers in the department have been instructed to wait to respond.
“Since last night, it has become even more clear that the thoughtless and bullying email was meant to intimidate federal employees and cause mass confusion,” Kelley said in a statement. “Agencies across the federal government have acknowledged that confusion and that they were unaware the email was being sent. Though we believe the email and the resulting agency instructions are improper, we advise that you comply with any directive that has come from your agency.”
How Does This Affect Texas?
Texas hosts the fourth largest civilian government workforce in the nation, with 144,000 federal employees. Fort Cavazos, formerly known as Fort Hood, located between Austin and Waco, is the largest and most populated U.S. military installation, according to their official website. A commander at the Carl R. Darnell Army Medical Center on Fort Cavazos expressed his sympathy in an email sent to staff that was provided to the Observer.
"I want to begin by telling you how much you are appreciated ... I am so sorry for any unease the OPM email message has caused you."
Other government layoffs have left Dallas without critical positions within the Environmental Protection Agency, and North Texas lawmakers are ringing the alarms to reconsider potential terminations. A lawsuit out of California has called the mass firings “one of the most massive employment frauds in the history of this country," according to The Associated Press. There is no official count for the number of employees laid off, but the federal government is the largest employer in the United States.
It is cruel and disrespectful for federal employees to be forced to justify their job duties to this out-of-touch, privileged, unelected billionaire who has never performed one single hour of honest public service in his life. https://t.co/bfGsth9Dp9
— AFGE (@AFGENational) February 22, 2025
