Elon Musk, appointed by President Donald Trump to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, has renewed his threat to fire federal workers who don’t comply with his demand to justify their jobs.
Musk, despite the Trump administration saying workers don’t have to respond, insists that employees must summarize their work or face termination.
Musk’s email request sparked widespread confusion across the federal government, raising questions about his authority within the administration.
The agency overseeing federal employees told workers they could ignore Musk’s email, but some agencies still encouraged employees to respond.
Musk posted on X, saying the email request was trivial, but many workers failed to respond, even with encouragement from their managers.
He warned that those who don’t respond a second time will be terminated, subject to the president’s discretion.
This development is part of Trump’s effort to downsize the government, which has already led to over 20,000 layoffs.
The move has prompted a wave of lawsuits and criticism from federal unions.