RFK Jr. Reportedly Ordering HHS Staff to Respond to Elon Musk’s Email Demanding They Justify Their Jobs Or Quit
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While many top federal government agency leaders are instructing their teams to ignore Elon Musk’s email demanding they highlight their work accomplishments or resign, newly-confirmed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is reportedly ordering his staff to comply with the request.
On Saturday afternoon, Musk announced on X that an email would be sent widely to federal government employees, and failure to respond would be considered a resignation.
“Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk wrote. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
The email — sent late Saturday to the staff of multiple federal agencies by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) with the subject line “What did you do last week?” — demanded federal employees justify their jobs.
“Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager,” the email said. “Please do not send any classified information, links, or attachments.”
The leaders of many federal agencies — including new FBI Director Kash Patel, a longtime President Donald Trump loyalist — have instructed their teams not to respond to the email. But according to The Bulwark’s Sam Stein, RFK Jr. is requiring that his staff comply. Stein posted a screenshot to X of an email from HHS ordering staff to answer the OPM email.
“On Saturday, February 22, 2025, OPM sent an email to all federal employees titled “What Did You Do Last Week?” the HHS email said. “This is a legitimate email. Please read and respond per the instructions by Monday, February 24 11:59 p.m. ET.”
However, one major agency under the HHS umbrella is defying this directive. Stein further reported that Matthew Memoli, the acting director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is telling his team to stand pat.
“We ask that you please hold on responding to OPM until you receive further guidance,” Memoli wrote in an email — citing the HHS email ordering staffers to comply.
Musk’s demand has drawn outrage from unions representing federal workers and many others — as DOGE (an outfit which the White House says Elon Musk technically has nothing to do with, even though Trump says he runs it) has sent shockwaves with mass firings across numerous government agencies.
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