Elon Musk Sends Second “Pulse Check” Email to Federal Employees

While this email itself did not outline any specific consequences for federal workers’ responses, it came shortly after a post from Musk on social media platform X, in which he declared that “All federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. (Sunira Moses/Unsplash)

Elon Musk’s new efficiency initiative requires federal employees to submit weekly reports on their accomplishments to streamline budget cuts. Due to pushback from a few federal agencies, its future remains uncertain.

Article by Stella Smith, Associate White House Correspondent

WASHINGTON - Elon Musk has sent a second email to federal employees requesting a list of their recent accomplishments as part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s effort to streamline budget cuts.

In a second attempt by President Donald Trump and DOGE department head Elon Musk to increase efficiency and enforce budget cuts, many federal workers received this follow-up email on Friday night requesting a five bullet-point response detailing their accomplishments for the week.

This email comes in the wake of controversy surrounding Musk’s first check-in, which was sent out in the afternoon of February 22. The initial email read, “Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager. Please do not send any classified information, links, or attachments. Deadline is this Monday at 11:59pm EST.”

While this email itself did not outline any specific consequences for federal workers’ responses, it came shortly after a post from Musk on social media platform X, in which he declared that “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.”

The second email, containing the subject line “What did you do last week? Part II” also stated that going forward, all federal employees would be required to complete this check-in every Monday by 11:59pm EST.

In response to this new initiative from DOGE and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), not all agencies have complied, many citing concerns over chain of command. While the initial email received over one million replies, some departments are resisting the unprecedented directive.

Among the most notable agencies pushing back is the Department of Defense. Darin Selnick, who is currently acting as the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, issued a letter regarding the email to Pentagon civilian staff on Sunday. The letter instructed employees to hold off on responding to the email from the OPM until further notice. "When and if required, the Department will coordinate responses to the email you have received from OPM," Selnick wrote. "For now, please pause any response to the OPM email titled, 'What did you do last week.'"

The State Department has also taken steps to ensure its employees do not feel obligated to respond to the OPM’s email. Acting Under Secretary of Management Tibor Nagy addressed the issue in an email on Saturday, emphasizing that "The State Department will respond on behalf of the Department." He further clarified that "no employee is obligated to report their activities outside their department chain of command."

All things considered, it is uncertain whether this effort will be sustained due to resistance from major federal agencies. Without clear enforcement mechanisms or defined consequences, the initiative may face further challenges, making its future implementation unpredictable.