Elon Musk Issues Ominous Warning After DOGE Productivity Email Pulled Back, Gives Employees ‘Another Chance’ to Answer
Elon Musk has conceded that federal employees who failed to reply to his cross-agency productivity audit email issued Saturday were given “another chance” at President Donald Trump’s “discretion” — but warned that next time, ignoring the email would result in “termination.”
Musk’s indignant follow-up was posted to X on Monday after the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) walked back the idea hours before the midnight Monday deadline given to government workers to account for their work or be fired.
The email was sent out on Saturday by OPM to federal employees across several agencies, framed as a measure of accountability by Musk, whose Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project has been active in cutting jobs across agencies.
At the time, Musk said that the email was in line with President Donald Trump’s orders and that all federal employees would receive the email.
“Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation,” the billionaire warned.
The announcement and threat, however, caused widespread chaos and confusion across federal agencies, including the FBI, where newly appointed director Kash Patel advised employees not to comply with the email.
“FBI personnel may have received an email from OPM requesting information,” Patel wrote in a memo. “The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all of our review processes… For now, please pause any responses.”
After OPM said employees could ignore the email, Musk issued a defiant follow-up on X Monday, saying Trump had made the call and employees would be given “another chance.”
“Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination,” he wrote.
