Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency email request to federal workers sparked chaos, with the billionaire’s threat of termination prompting both mockery and serious consequences.
Let’s take a look at how people are responding to a CEO forcing federal workers to be accountable in the same way workers in private industries are.
At a Glance
- Musk’s DOGE initiative requested federal workers to email their weekly accomplishments, threatening to treat non-compliance as resignation
- The initiative was flooded with spam emails containing song lyrics, recipes, and sarcastic comments
- The Office of Personnel Management had to clarify that compliance was voluntary after agency confusion
- At least 20 civil service employees from the United States Digital Service resigned in protest
- President Trump supported Musk’s approach, calling it “ingenious”
Federal Workforce Rebellion
Federal employees rebelled against Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative after the billionaire demanded they email weekly accomplishment reports. The directive, which requested approximately five bullet points of achievements with a Monday deadline, was met with a flood of spam responses from both federal workers and outside parties. The situation quickly spiraled into chaos, with many submissions containing irrelevant content, song lyrics, recipes, and sarcastic comments rather than legitimate work reports.
The controversial initiative caused considerable confusion among federal agencies, leading the Office of Personnel Management to step in with clarification that compliance with Musk’s request was voluntary, not mandatory. The backlash highlighted the growing tension between Musk’s aggressive efficiency approach and the established federal workforce culture. Many employees viewed the demand as unnecessarily burdensome and potentially disruptive to their actual duties.
Despite the widespread criticism from federal employees, President Donald Trump publicly endorsed Musk’s controversial initiative.
Trump loved the idea so much, in fact, that he even called it “genius” during a discussion with journalists in the Oval Office.
Mass Resignations Strike DOGE
The controversy escalate, however, when at least 20 civil service employees from the United States Digital Service, established during the Obama administration, submitted their resignations in protest.
It sounds more like they didn’t have five things to write in an email response…
These supposedly highly skilled technology experts refused to participate in what they viewed as an inappropriate dismantling of critical government services. The mass departure dealt a significant blow to Musk and Trump’s efforts to streamline federal operations.
“We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations. However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments,” the 21 resigning staffers wrote in their explanation.
The departing employees expressed serious concerns about the DOGE initiative’s interview processes and overall approach.
“Several of these interviewers refused to identify themselves, asked questions about political loyalty, attempted to pit colleagues against each other, and demonstrated limited technical ability,” the resigning staffers also noted in their statement.
So, in many ways, the Musk initiative is working: those who have something to report have reported it and kept their jobs. Those who haven’t have either been fired or…resigned in protest. Now that’s efficiency!
