Chicago February 25, 2025
Federal workers spent Monday trying to make sense of Elon Musk’s email demand that they explain their work last week or risk losing their job. However, the day was marked by confusing and contradictory guidance, leaving many workers unclear about how to respond.
Some workers were told to comply with Musk’s demand, while others were advised not to. Many were left waiting for instructions from their agency leaders until late in the day. To add to the confusion, President Donald Trump called Musk’s email demand “ingenious” and said that anyone who didn’t respond would be “semi-fired or fired.”
However, just a couple of hours later, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) contradicted Trump, stating that responding to Musk’s email was voluntary and that failure to respond would not result in resignation. While some agencies passed on this message to their employees, others did not, leaving many workers in the dark.
A career employee with the Department of Veterans Affairs expressed frustration with the mixed messages. “Our chief said it was mandatory. Then OPM said it became voluntary. Then I guess Trump just told us it was mandatory again. No one knows who is in charge and who to listen to.”
