WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal employees are starting to receive another email requiring them to explain their recent accomplishments, a renewed attempt by President Donald Trump and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk to demand answers from the government workforce.
Originally expected to go out Saturday, the new request began landing in the inboxes of some employees late Friday. The plan to send a second round of emails was initially disclosed by a person with knowledge of the situation who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.
The first email, which was distributed a week ago, asked employees “what did you do last week?” and prompted them to list five tasks that they completed. Musk, whose Department of Government Efficiency has been empowered by Trump with a mission to downsize agencies and eliminate thousands of federal jobs, said anyone who didn't respond would be fired. Many agencies, meanwhile, told their workforces not to respond or issued conflicting guidance.
The second email was expected to be delivered in a different way, according to the person with knowledge of the situation, potentially making it easier to discipline employees for noncompliance.
Instead of being sent by the Office of Personnel Management, which functions as a human resources agency for the federal government but doesn't have the power to hire or fire, the email was to come from individual agencies that have direct oversight of career officials.
But a version of the email received late Friday by some employees at two separate agencies — with the subject line, “What did you do last week? Part II" — came from “[email protected],” the same OPM address that sent the first version.
“Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets describing what you accomplished last week and cc your manager,” the message read, adding that going forward, employees would be expected to submit a response each week by the following Monday at 11:59 p.m. Eastern.
It's unclear how national security agencies will handle the second email. After the first one, they directed employees not to write back because much of the agencies' work is sensitive or classified. Less than half of federal workers responded, according to the White House.
The version viewed late Friday by The Associated Press reads in part: “If all of your activities are classified or sensitive, please write, ‘All of my activities are sensitive.’” That may not eliminate all security concerns given that sending an email creates a digital footprint regardless of the message's content.
A spokesperson for OPM did not immediately respond to a request for clarification Friday night.
On Wednesday, at Trump's first Cabinet meeting of his second term, Musk argued that his request was a “pulse check” to ensure that those working for the government have “a pulse and two neurons."
Both Musk and Trump have claimed that some workers are either dead or fictional, and the president has publicly backed Musk's approach.
Addressing people who didn't respond to the first email, Trump said “they are on the bubble,” and he added that he wasn't “thrilled” about them not responding.
“Now, maybe they don’t exist,” he said without providing evidence. “Maybe we’re paying people that don’t exist.”
In addition to recent firings of probationary employees, a memo distributed this week set the stage for large-scale layoffs and consolidation of programs.
The Education Department offered employees a $25,000 buyout and warned of looming layoffs. An email sent to all agency workers gave them until the end of Monday to decide on the offer, which was touted as coming “in advance of a very significant Reduction in Force.”
It was sent from the department’s chief human capital officer. The agency did not immediately offer comment.
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Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Associated Press writer Collin Binkley in Washington contributed to this report.
Chris Megerian, Adriana Gomez Licon And Matthew Lee, The Associated Press
