Adapted by:
Rubén Andrés
WriterWriter at Xataka. I've been working remotely for more than a decade and I'm a strong advocate of technology as a way to improve our lives. Full-time addict of black, sugar-free coffee.
Karen Alfaro
WriterCommunications professional with a decade of experience as a copywriter, proofreader, and editor. As a travel and science journalist, I've collaborated with several print and digital outlets around the world. I'm passionate about culture, music, food, history, and innovative technologies.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced on X that DOGE would email all federal officials, requiring a response within 48 hours. Those who failed to reply could be automatically dismissed. However, agency leaders have already decided to ignore the email.
Musk’s email and his strategy. According to Fortune, the email’s subject line, sent to more than 2.3 million federal employees, read: “What did you do last week?” Inside, DOGE asked employees to report their work from the past week. Those who didn’t respond would be considered inactive and automatically resigned.
This isn’t the first time Musk has used an email to pressure employees into resigning. In 2022, after taking over Twitter (now X), he emailed employees asking them to resign if they disagreed with his new policies. That move led to the dismissal of more than 80% of Twitter’s workforce, though it didn’t always work in his favor.
NASA is in no hurry. At least two government agencies have openly defied DOGE’s email directive. NASA was the first to respond. In an internal statement obtained by Bloomberg, the space agency’s managers told its 17,000 employees not to respond until receiving guidance to ensure they “are in compliance.”
Agency officials warned employees to “PAUSE on any response to the subject email,” and cautioned people to be vigilant “to not disclose proprietary or pre-decisional information to unknown recipients without a need to know,” citing concerns over leaks. They also exempted employees on leave or vacation from responding, stating they weren’t obligated to check emails during that time.
The FBI and Pentagon send it to spam. Leaders overseeing Pentagon and FBI officials have also hesitated to respond immediately to DOGE’s email.
According to CBS News, newly appointed FBI Director Kash Patel said, “The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all of our review processes, and will conduct reviews in accordance with the FBI procedures. When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses.”
The Department of Homeland Security took a more direct approach, instructing employees to ignore the email and stating that the State Department would vouch for its officials.
“No employee is required to report their activities outside their department’s chain of command,” Under Secretary for Management Tibor Nagy wrote to his subordinates. Like NASA, he cited the risk of exposing sensitive information.
$8.5 million per email. According to Fortune, DOGE’s mass email directive could cost approximately 166,500 hours of work time, referencing Musk’s claim that responding would take only five minutes.
These hours spent justifying civil servants’ work translate to an estimated $8.5 million in taxpayer money, based on the average U.S. federal salary of $106,000 per year.
Image | Dvids (Justin Pacheco)
Log in to leave a comment