ELON MUSK departs Marine One on Sunday March 2, 2025 at the White House after a weekend in Florida with Donald Trump. Musk was accompanied by his mother Maye Musk, and 4-year-old son, X. President Trump several times has raised the prospect of discipline for non-response, most recently saying “it’s possible that a lot of those people will be actually fired.” Image: Andrew Leyden/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
By: FEDweek StaffThe Trump administration has sent a second email calling on federal employees to describe their activities of the previous week, again roiling the federal workplace only days after the controversy over the first had settled somewhat.
Like the first, the email sent over the weekend—coming several days after both President Trump and DOGE project leader Elon Musk suggested that another was coming—with a reply deadline of midnight Monday. Also like the first, reactions from employees ranged from acceptance to resentment, with a strong undercurrent of confusion.
The latter was underscored when several agencies reportedly once again told employees to either not respond to the email or to await guidance from their supervisors—not immediately forthcoming because the email was again sent over the weekend. In contrast, DoD has told employees that they must respond.
A message from @SecDef on compliance with OPM’s “What You Did Last Week” email directive. pic.twitter.com/ByKyYIYFJV
— Department of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) March 2, 2025
Musk has characterized a requirement to provide five bullet-sized items on their previous week’s activities as not burdensome, and has said the first email was also meant as a test of DOGE’s suspicions that “there are a number of people on the government payroll who are dead” and someone is fraudulently collecting their pay.
There has been no evidence for the latter assertion, and while many employees already are required to report their activities weekly or even daily, those reports go through internal agency chains of command, not to OPM. Similarly, individual agencies, not OPM make decisions on discipline, regardless of a social media post by Musk following the first email that “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation” (there is no such thing in federal personnel law as a deemed resignation).
It remains unclear what is being done with the responses to the first email or what will be done with the responses to the second. It is also unclear whether all 2.3 million employees who received the initial email received the second.
Again, also not clear are the potential consequences for not responding. Following pushback from agencies such as DHS, State and the intelligence community to the first on security grounds, the new email says that employees can respond simply that their activities are sensitive.
OPM in a conference call last Monday reportedly left matters up to individual agencies. However, later written guidance did not make such a message explicit, while Trump several times has raised the prospect of discipline for non-response, most recently saying “it’s possible that a lot of those people will be actually fired.”
In a social media post late Saturday, Musk said that “The President has made it clear that this is mandatory for the executive branch. Anyone working on classified or other sensitive matters is still required to respond if they receive the email, but can simply reply that their work is sensitive.”
The President has made it clear that this is mandatory for the executive branch.
Anyone working on classified or other sensitive matters is still required to respond if they receive the email, but can simply reply that their work is sensitive. https://t.co/lSyfj8eMzR
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 1, 2025
In a memo released Monday, DoD Secretary Pete Hegseth told employees to expect an email directly from the department that day, telling them to respond within 48 hours with a summary of their previous week’s accomplishments. “Submissions must exclude classified or sensitive information and will be incorporated into weekly situation reports by supervisors,” it says.
“Employees currently without email access due to leave, shift work, temporary duty, or other valid reasons must comply within 48 hours of regaining access. Managers of those who do not regularly work in office settings with access to email, e.g. warehouses and shipyards, should address directly with their employees,” it says.
It adds that “Non-compliance may lead to further review.”
Key Bills Advancing, but No Path to Avoid Shutdown Apparent
TSP Adds Detail to Upcoming Roth Conversion Feature
White House to Issue Rules on RIF, Disciplinary Policy Changes
DoD Announces Civilian Volunteer Detail in Support of Immigration Enforcement
See also,
How Do Age and Years of Service Impact My Federal Retirement
The Best Ages for Federal Employees to Retire
How to Challenge a Federal Reduction in Force (RIF) in 2025
Should I be Shooting for a $1M TSP Balance? Depends…
