Federal workers can ignore infamous Elon Musk email request, Trump administration says

In response to the email sent by Elon Musk to federal employees requesting a report of their "work content last week," the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has made it clear that federal employees are not required to respond to this email. This action is intended to address the previously controversial "government audit" email.

Reportedly, the email spearheaded by Musk was sent to two million federal employees, requiring them to report their work achievements from the previous week in the form of five bullet points. However, multiple agencies, including the Department of Defense, the FBI, and the Department of Justice, had initially instructed employees to ignore the email. Unions representing U.S. federal employees also publicly condemned the email as "clearly illegal."

According to CBS News, two officials from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management confirmed in a conference call with heads of federal agencies that each agency could decide how to handle the email. Another government source revealed that when the Office of Personnel Management was asked how to handle the information, it stated that there were "no plans" to use the information.

The Office of Personnel Management explicitly informed federal agencies that "any response to the email by employees is voluntary" and that "failure to respond will not be considered a resignation." Musk himself stated on social media platform X that the email request was a "dumb test" for federal employees, and claimed that many people even failed this simple test, which shocked him about how taxpayer money is being used.

The American Federation of Government Employees issued a public letter to the Office of Personnel Management, strongly condemning the email and deeming it "clearly illegal." This incident reflects a significant difference in working methods and efficiency assessments between federal employees and individuals in the technology sector.