A rift seems to have appeared in the Trump administration as the heads of different government agencies appointed by the president have instructed their subordinates to not respond to an email sent by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) asking them to detail what work they had done during the week.
Concretely, the heads of the Pentagon, FBI, State Department, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Energy directed staff not to reply to the email, CNN reported. Others have directed employees to reply to the email with the subject line: "What did you do last week?"
Musk said on Friday that failure to respond to the emails would be taken as resignations. He doubled down on the matter during the weekend, saying on X that it was "EXTREMELY troubling that some parts of government think this is TOO MUCH!!"
Kash Patel, recently appointed to lead the FBI, said "personnel may have received an email from OPM requesting information" but clarified the agency is "in charge of all of our review processes, and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures." When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses," said Patel in an email obtained by NBC News.
The Defense Department issued a similar response, with Darin Selnick, acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness saying it is "responsible for reviewing the performance of its personnel and will conduct any review in accordance with its own procedures."
"When and if required, the department will coordinate responses to the email you have received from OPM. For now, please pause any response to the OPM email titled 'What did you do last week.'" DHS management and State Department officials issued similar guidance.
Other Republicans joined in their disagreement, with Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska saying "If Elon Musk truly wants to understand what federal workers accomplished over the past week, he should get to know each department and agency, and learn about the jobs he's trying to cut." The deadline to respond to the email is Monday night.
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