Last Sunday, February 23, some heads of agencies selected by the president of the United States, Donald Trumpthey were against the statements of the South African magnate Elon Musk, who mentioned that, “all federal employees who do not declare their weekly achievements are at risk of ending up dismissed.”
The leaders of Pentagonthe Federal Investigation Office, the State Department, the Department of National Security and the Department of Energy They asked their staff not to respond to the email they received during the night of Saturday, February 22, with the matter: “What did you do last week?”
However, other agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, ordered their workers to comply with the request sent by Musk, where they had to share a list with the Five achievements of the week; While other departments asked his staff to “expect more instructions about it.”
At the moment, the White House It has not ruled on the problems between the Government Efficiency Department (Doge) that Musk directs and the bosses of the federal agencies; However, the South African magnate commented that it is “extremely worrying that some parts of the government think this is too much.”
Republicans against Musk
At present, the confrontation with Elon Musk is led by some heads of federal agencies that were appointed by Donald Trump himself and, according to the republican president, “all are considered loyal“In his cause, although at no time was South African spoke specifically.
According to various Republican officials, Musk “has paid little attention to strict command chains that dictate life within the bureaucracy Federal “, and one of the main examples that show that reality is the” absurd email of the weekend “, which unleashed the discomfort of federal employees against him.
The Alaska Senator, Lisa Murkowskihe mentioned that, if Elon Musk “really wants to understand” what federal workers achieve during a work week, should know each department and each agency, in order to learn about the jobs of thousands of people who are trying to eliminate without any justification .
In turn, the director of the Federal Research Office (FBIfor its acronym in English), Kash patel, He tried to guide his employees to know how to proceed after receiving email; However, “after analyzing the situation,” Patel decided to suspend all the answers and asked Musk to ask for the information directly to him.
Subsequently, the interim undersecretary of the Department of Defense, Darin Selnick, He mentioned that his federal agency “is responsible for reviewing the performance of his staff and will carry out the review according to his own procedures”, so none of his workers will answer the email to Elon Musk.
Finally, the State Department He publicly announced that his workforce is not obliged to answer that email: “No employee has the obligation to inform or report his activities outside the chain of his federal agency,” added the Undersecretary of Management in Functions, Ed Martin.
Those Who Do Not Take This Email Seriously Will Soon Be Furthering ES Career Elsewhere https://t.co/efvcjnxwrl
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 24, 2025