Federal court officials have issued a directive for employees to disregard an email mistakenly sent by Elon Musk's team. The email, addressed to judges and judiciary staff nationwide, requested recipients to outline five accomplishments from the previous week. This message reached inboxes with a deadline for response set at Monday, 11:59 PM. Notably, it omitted Musk's social media threat indicating that failure to reply would be interpreted as a resignation.
According to U.S. District Judge Randolph Daniel Moss, the email was erroneously dispatched and did not originate from official channels. It was meant to solicit performance summaries from federal employees, including judges, court staff, and federal prison officials. The Office of Personnel Management later confirmed the directive's authenticity, but individual agencies were tasked with deciding on subsequent actions.
"We understand that some judges and judiciary staff have received an email … directing the recipient to reply with five accomplishments from the prior week. Please be advised that this email did not originate from the Judiciary or the Administrative Office and we suggest that no action be taken," – Federal court officials
The National Weather Service leadership also responded to the email by highlighting the confusion it had caused among its employees. They advised against replying until the message's authenticity could be confirmed.
"Until such time as we can verify that the message that was received at or around 4:46pm ET is authentic, please do not respond." – National Weather Service leadership
Despite the mix-up, Musk had earlier taken to social media expressing consistent support for President Trump's directives.
"Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week." – Elon Musk
"Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation." – Elon Musk
The White House and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency have been actively involved in streamlining government operations. This has included firing both new and career workers, planning for large-scale workforce reductions, and freezing trillions of dollars in federal grant funds.
Labour union leaders have condemned this ultimatum, threatening legal action against any perceived wrongful terminations. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) voiced strong opposition.
"It is cruel and disrespectful to hundreds of thousands of veterans who are wearing their second uniform in the civil service to be forced to justify their job duties to this out-of-touch, privileged, unelected billionaire who has never performed one single hour of honest public service in his life." – Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)
The AFGE has pledged to challenge any unlawful dismissals of its members amidst these developments. This comes in the wake of thousands of government employees being ousted under the Trump administration's policies. Agency leaders have received instructions to prepare for significant workforce reductions, emphasizing an aggressive approach towards federal workforce restructuring.