A wave of confusion swept through federal agencies this weekend after an unexpected email from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) landed in the inboxes of millions of federal employees. Sent on Saturday evening, the email asked employees to list their accomplishments from the past week in five bullet points, with a deadline for responses set at midnight on Monday. This directive left many employees perplexed, especially as some are legally restricted from accessing work emails outside of regular hours.
The authenticity of the email was confirmed by the OPM, the government’s human resources agency. However, the sudden request raised concerns across various departments. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DoJ) issued clarifications and warnings to their staff. The DoJ cautioned employees not to include any sensitive, confidential, or classified information in their responses.
"Do not include any sensitive, confidential, or classified information in your response. Should you have any questions about the contents of your response please contact your supervisor." – Department of Justice
Elon Musk added to the anxiety with a social media post asserting that "failure to respond will be taken as a resignation," although this was not mentioned in any official government communication. The email's directive to report weekly accomplishments was met with mixed reactions from department heads, leading to conflicting guidance across agencies.
"failure to respond will be taken as a resignation" – Elon Musk
In an effort to ensure procedural integrity, the FBI Director Kash Patel instructed employees to delay any response pending further guidance. His statement emphasized adherence to established FBI procedures during such reviews.
"The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all of our review processes, and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures." – Kash Patel
The Department of Justice further advised that media reports confirmed the email's distribution throughout the federal government and reassured that there was no indication of it being spam or harmful.
"Media reports indicate the email was distributed to employees throughout the federal government. at this point, we have no reason to believe this message is spam or malicious" – Department of Justice
Despite these assurances, the absence of clear instructions created uncertainty. Multiple departments offered differing advice on how to address the request, leaving employees unsure about compliance expectations. Some officials pointed out that employees are not obligated to report activities beyond their departmental purview.
"No employee is obligated to report their activities outside of their Department chain of command" – Tibor Nagy
A follow-up email confirmed the message's legitimacy and instructed employees to prepare for compliance with the outlined procedures.
"employees should be prepared to follow the instructions as requested" – Department of Justice
However, with federal law prohibiting some workers from checking emails outside of standard hours, this request posed a legal and logistical challenge. The situation was further complicated by recent events at other agencies, such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where employees had been put on leave within the last month.