Trump administration tells workers they can ignore Musk ultimatum

WASHINGTON: The US agency that oversees federal workers said on Monday (Feb 24) they could ignore a weekend email from tech billionaire Elon Musk that required them to justify their jobs after Musk's demand sparked unusual pushback from some agencies.

Musk's email had directed each of the nation's 2.3 million civil-service workers to provide a five-point summary of their work by 11.59pm Eastern time, raising questions about how much authority the world's richest person can wield in President Donald Trump's effort to downsize the US government.

Also on Monday, a federal judge blocked the government downsizing team created by Trump and led by Musk from accessing sensitive data maintained by the US Education Department and the US Office of Personnel Management.

According to an internal Justice Department email seen by Reuters, the OPM told human resources officials at federal agencies that employees would not be let go for not replying to Musk's email - nor were staff required to respond to it.

The memo said responding to the email was voluntary. It also urged employees not to share confidential, sensitive or classified information in their responses, a concern of critics of Musk's action.

With confusion escalating across the government, some federal agencies earlier told their workers to comply, while others did not.

The countermanding of Musk's order by some agency leaders was the first sign of internal resistance to his blunt-force approach to downsizing the federal government.

Musk's downsizing initiative has rippled into the wider US economy as well, forcing companies that do business with the government to lay off their own workers and defer payments to vendors.

The billionaire's Saturday message took some administration officials by surprise, according to two sources familiar with the situation.

Adding to the confusion, Trump stood by Musk. "I thought it was great," he told reporters at the White House. "There was a lot of genius in sending it. We're trying to find out if people were working."

UNIONS SUE OVER MUSK EMAIL

Also on Monday, a group of labour unions that have asked a federal judge to stop the mass firings updated their lawsuit to request that Musk's email be ruled illegal.

Prior to the OPM directive, senior officials at Justice, as well as the departments of Defense, State and Homeland Security and several other agencies had told workers not to respond outside their established chain of command.

The Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency initially told workers to cooperate, then told them to stand down.

The Transportation Department, the Treasury Department and independent agencies like the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission have told employees to answer Musk's message.

Musk has revelled in the upheaval, even wielding a chainsaw at a conservative political conference last week.

His email was also sent to political appointees at the White House who presumably would not be viewed with suspicion by the president, according to two sources.

It also was sent to federal judges and other employees of the court system, who make up a separate branch of government and do not answer to the administration. Musk's downsizing effort has laid off more than 20,000 workers so far. He warned that those who do not comply with his order could likewise lose their jobs.

"This mess will get sorted out this week," Musk wrote. He said separately that staffers who continue to work remotely would be placed on leave starting this week.

DOWNSIZING, REHIRING

The confusion echoed the broader turmoil surrounding Trump's return to power.

Since taking office on Jan 20, Trump has frozen billions of dollars in foreign assistance and effectively dismantled the US Agency for International Development, stranding medicine and food in warehouses.

He has ordered employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to cease working, though they also received Musk's email asking to outline their work activities over the past week. The Trump administration has separately offered buyouts to 75,000 workers.

In some cases, the government has scrambled to rehire workers who perform critical functions like nuclear weapons oversight and bird flu response. The downsizing also prompted a wave of lawsuits.

Charles Farinella, a fired IRS agent in New York, said he was trying to figure out whether he should cancel an upcoming dentist appointment because he had not been told whether he still had coverage through his job.

"I don't know what I'm going to do at this point in time. I might have to look to sell my house, because I don't have a severance or anything," he said. "I feel pretty much devastated."

The chief of Tesla and social media platform X, Musk has said he aims to cut US$1 trillion from the government's US$6.7 trillion budget.