The latest phase in Elon Musk's efforts to purge civil servants came in a Saturday afternoon via email asking federal workers, “What did you do last week?”
“Please reply to this email with a rough estimate. A message from the US Human Resources Office read what you achieved and manager last week as CC's five bullet points. “Categorized information, links, or Please do not send attachments. The deadline is 11:59pm this Monday.”
This message surprised the horrors across civil servants as many smelled the trap set by a whimpering overlord looking for an excuse to fire them. And in fact, in X, Musk posted an ominous threat: “A failure to respond is considered a resignation.”
But it also pissed off an astonishing amount of pushback from Trump's appointees within the administration itself. Newly confirmed FBI director Kash Patel and National Intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard sent employees a message to tell them not to reply. So did officials from the Department of State, Defense, Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services. Such a message emphasized that agency heads are responsible for employee reviews. In other words, masks aren't.
Amidst a swirling repulsion, Musk initially acted defensively, claiming that his demands were harmless. “The bar is very low here. Some bullet points emails that make sense are acceptable!” he posted. He says that emails are simply “very basic pulse checks” and attack if there is an identity of workers or people who “have not checked the email at all” or “people who do not exist or have died. He added that he claims that it is intended to be used to collect wages.”
But later on Monday, he got offended. “This mess is sorted out this week. There are a lot of people because of rude awakening and strong doses of reality. They haven't got it yet, but they'll do so.”
Trump urged Musk to be more aggressive
The whole picture here is that many Trump appointees are talking or often acting as if Musk is the CEO of the federal government (or at least its COO), and many Trump appointees are on their agency. I am increasingly irritated by the confusing effects of this.
The Washington Post story, published Friday, recorded many of these complaints. Many agencies were not said to have been fired (in an attempt to desperately try to rehire fired employees), leading to cancellation of contracts for legally mandated functions; And more.
Then, in a Saturday morning post, President Donald Trump sent a true social mission.
“Yes, President!” Musk responded with X (yes, we live in a country that posts on the president-owned social networks, and his top advisor is another social network owned by the advisor. I will answer.)
“What did you do last week?” The emails that repeated the tactical masks used during the 2022 acquisition of Twitter were quickly followed.
But some resistance continued, including some surprising sources, including the newly confirmed, unshakable Trump's loyal FBI director.
“The FBI is responsible for the entire review process through the director's office and will follow the FBI procedures to carry out reviews,” Patel wrote in a message to FBI employees. “If you need more information, I'll adjust the answer. Please pause the response for now.”
Will other Trump appointees succeed in Musk?
I don't know what happened behind the scenes here. It is possible that Patel has obtained permission from Trump and Musk to exempt the FBI. But if not, this can be read as a shot across the bow from someone with unconscious Trump World qualifications. Message: Except for me, you cannot run or dismantle the FBI.
I've been wondering if Trump's appointees have finally confirmed to push back into the Doge to get free reins at their institutions.
For example, Musk posted on Sunday that “a large number of positive responses have already been received.” “These are the people to consider for promotion.” But is the mask really the decision-maker of who will be promoted at all institutions? You'll think that ministers and agency heads have something to say about it. However, given Musk's apparent action in Trump's blessing, many fear oppose his move.
It's also difficult to stand up to masks. Because it appears he has gained control of major powers within the government. For example, through the control of the allied personnel management office, he appears to be able to design layoffs for many federal workers while placing others on paid administrative leave.
And Musk claimed on Monday that he would do more of it soon. “People who ignored the president's executive order to return to President Trump's workplace have been warned for over a month,” Musk posted. “From this week onwards, those who have not yet returned to office will be on administrative leave.”
