Skip to Main Content
National News
“Those who do not take this email seriously will soon be furthering their career elsewhere,” Musk posted on X, his social media platform.
Elon Musk, left, receives a chainsaw from Argentina’s President Javier Milei as they arrive speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, in Oxon Hill, Md. AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
By LINDSAY WHITEHURST and CHRIS MEGERIAN, Associated Press
February 24, 2025 | 11:03 AM
5 minutes to read
WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorneys for federal workers said Monday in a lawsuit that billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk had violated the law with his weekend demand that employees explain their accomplishments or risk being fired.
The updated lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in California and was provided to The Associated Press, is trying to block mass layoffs pursued by Musk and President Donald Trump, including any connected to the email distributed by the Office of Personnel Management on Saturday. The office, which functions as a human resources agency for the federal government, said employees needed to detail five things that they did last week by end of day on Monday.
“No OPM rule, regulation, policy, or program has ever, in United States history, purported to require all federal workers to submit reports to OPM,” said the amended complaint, which was filed on behalf of unions, businesses veterans, and conservation organizations represented by the group State Democracy Defenders Fund. It called the threat of mass firings “one of the most massive employment frauds in the history of this country.”
Musk, who’s leading the Republican president’s efforts to overhaul and downsize the federal government, continued to threaten federal workers on Monday morning even as confusion spread through the administration and some top officials told employees not to comply.
“Those who do not take this email seriously will soon be furthering their career elsewhere,” Musk posted on X, his social media platform.
He also escalated Trump’s demand for employees to stop working remotely.
“Starting this week, those who still fail to return to office will be placed on administrative leave,” Musk posted.
The latest round of turmoil began over the weekend, when Trump posted on Truth Social, his social media website, that “ELON IS DOING A GREAT JOB, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET MORE AGGRESSIVE.”
Musk followed up by saying “all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week.” He claimed that “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.” The directive echoed how the billionaire entrepreneur has managed his own companies.
The Office of Personnel Management sent out its own request afterwards.
“Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager,” the message said.