Elon Musk and Trump just sent email to all federal employees requesting one thing or they’ll be classed as resigning if they don’t respond

As Elon Musk and President Donald Trump attempt to streamline the US Government, all federal employees should expect an email in their inbox which could result in resignation if not responded to.

Musk and Trump have wasted no time in implementing swift changes to the federal government.

The Tesla CEO has been officially granted the title of 'special government employee', as well as leading a task force of people at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), alongside Vivek Ramaswamy.

According to Trump, DOGE's primary objective is 'dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies'.

And on Saturday (February 22), Musk revealed an ultimatum for federal employees in the form of an email.

The instruction in the email is clear, officials must explain what they have done in the last week - and if they don't manage to respond by 11.59pm ET on Monday, they'll be essentially be handing in their resignation.

Taking to Twitter yesterday, Musk tweeted: "Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, 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."

So, how did the email read then? Well, one person who received the notification posted a picture of it online.

"Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your

manager," it read. "Please do not send any classified information, links, or attachments.

"Deadline is this Monday at 11:59pmEST."

According to the BBC, the email landed in people's inboxes following Trump's appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), with the email's subject reading: "What did you do last week?"

Responding to this email would take less than 2 minutes for any truly productive person.

Why is this in any way controversial? pic.twitter.com/vm1Yig5bRi

— Matt Van Swol (@matt_vanswol) February 22, 2025

Meanwhile, emails obtained by CNN also showed they were marked as highly important, with Musk's mention of resignation as a result of a non response similarly not included.

Given the other drastic changes Trump has enforced on the workplace, this decision hasn't been received well.

FBI director Kash Patel has advised employees not to immediately respond, saying (via Sky News): "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. When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses.

"For now, please pause any responses."

Federal court officials has also urged for non response, adding: "Please be advised that this email did not originate from the judiciary or the administrative office and we suggest that no action be taken."

Meanwhile, President of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), Everett Kelley, called the action 'cruel and disrespectful' towards federal employees, adding that the AFGE would 'challenge any unlawful terminations of our members and federal employees across the country'.