OPM Emails to Federal Employees Regarding Accomplishments

On Saturday, 22nd February, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), led by Elon Musk, sent emails to federal employees asking them to report their accomplishments from the previous week. Recent reports indicate that OPM will use AI to assess these responses.

According to NBC News, Musk’s DOGE is leveraging AI to evaluate the usefulness of federal employees based on their weekly achievements, utilizing a large language model (LLM) for data analysis.

Prior to these emails, Musk tweeted, “All federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they did last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
> Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week.
>
> Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.
> — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 22, 2025

The email requested that employees summarize their accomplishments from the previous week in five bullet points, and explicitly stated not to send any classified information, links, or attachments. While the email didn’t contain termination warnings, a deadline was set for Monday at 11:59 PM EST.


House Speaker Mike Johnson praised Musk’s efforts, suggesting that DOGE has employed advanced AI systems to sift through government data. At an event by ‘Americans for Prosperity,’ Johnson stated, “Elon has cracked the code… The data doesn’t lie.”

OPM Clarifies Response is Voluntary

The Justice Department sent out a clarification stating that ignoring the email wouldn’t automatically lead to resignation, contradicting Musk’s warnings. In a subsequent tweet, Musk remarked that many failed to respond, indicating incompetence regarding taxpayer expenditures and emphasized that a second failure could result in termination.

> Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance.
> Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.
> — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 25, 2025

Musk faced criticism from workers and unions for his threats. Despite backlash, President Trump supported Musk’s strategy, highlighting the need for accountability among federal employees.

Trump voiced, “We have people who don’t show up to work… by asking ‘tell us what you did this week,’ he’s saying, ‘Are you actually working?’” He expressed concerns about unaccounted employees possibly being non-existent.

Pushback from Unions and Agencies

Several unions criticized the OPM’s actions, labeling mass firings as illegal and a betrayal of trust. Norm Eisen, an attorney for the plaintiffs, referred to the email as a “patronizing demand.”

Musk aims to cut the federal workforce by 10%, according to Trump’s directives. Some agencies led by Trump supporters advised employees to ignore the email, citing the sensitive nature of their work. The Justice Department, FBI, and others provided instructions to refrain from responding, citing guidance from OPM.

The Environmental Protection Agency provided empathetic response samples, while the Health and Human Services Department initially pushed for responses but later warned employees that their answers could be monitored by foreign actors. The Department of Transportation allowed responses without classified data, with its Secretary proactively sharing his accomplishments online.