US Agencies Push Back Against Elon Musk’s Job Justification Demand:

When the Elon Musk Office of Government Efficiency asked federal employees to justify their existence at the risk of losing their employment, numerous US agencies decided to sit back and await further instructions.

Employees at the Pentagon and DoD were instructed to ignore emails from the Trump Administration due to concerns about potential legal issues or loss of autonomy.

Furthermore, the Department of Health and Human Services did a U-turn on Sunday. They had previously advised employees to respond to the email, and subsequently said it was indeed an authentic communication from their agency. Employees must suspend efforts to respond until the Monday meeting where they will purportedly detail next steps. A group in NASA has informed their employees that they are drafting the details of how to answer the emails sent to them.

These do not appear to have been the only messages from other government agencies, including those run by the Trump appointed officials, which have created tension and panic after the order was issued to over two million government employees. One email tasking government employees instructed them to include five bullet points that explain what they did last week with their work by the end of the day on Monday.

Musk quoted, “Putting yourself in doubt without reason will be assumed as voluntarily quitting.” This tweet was posted shortly before the emails were dispatched.

The instruction did not cover a good deal of legal and practical nuances, and suggested that the government could simply stop disbursing pay to a range of federal employees , from those in the postal service to those working at prisons, if an email explaining their roles was not submitted.

As reported by Bloomberg Law, at least five leaders from DOJ offices responded swiftly to the Musk email by instructing their employees to refrain from providing any descriptors of their work up until such time as they are need more clarity. Some officers at the DOJ fear that if they respond to the email, they may some be in breach of ethical conduct rules.

Musk, as special government employee and Trump advisor, does not have the capability of dismissing civil servants directly.

Employees of the Defense were instructed to not answer emails for the time being. “The Department of Defense has the responsibility of evaluating a staff member’s work and will do all evaluation in accordance with applicable rules,” said Darin Selnick, who is performing the duties of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, in a post on X.

The American Federation of Government Employees, which claims to represent 800,000 employees, sent a letter on Sunday to the US Office of Personnel Management, claiming that Musk’s email gave no legal justification for the demands made and accused him of harassing “dedicated employees of the federal government.”

AFGE National President Everett Kelley claimed in the letter that OPM should have overridden the email, issued an apology to all federal workers, and responded to the AFGE’s letter before midnight Sunday. Kelley further elaborated, “The employees have no requirement to comply with this obviously unlawful email without further legal instructions.”

The job justification email was sent minutes after Trump’s endorsement of the work being done by DOGE, which was set up to overhaul the federal US workforce, setting targets to minimize the federal government’s size and only employing essential staff. Trump also remarked on social media, “Elon is doing a great job, but I would like to see him get even more aggressive."

Musk has received criticism from both political spectrums for this latest order which has drawn condemnation from lawmakers on his methods and the language used. Quite out of character for him, Musk’s commands have received a swift backlash from social media users.

“Could I make a suggestion to Elon Musk, I would advise him to consider being a bit more compassionate,” Senator John Curtis, a Republican from Utah, said on CBS’ Face the Nation. “There are real people whom this affects, there are real lives and mortgages at stake here. It is disingenuous to suggest that in order to cut expenses, there has to be some brutal cruelty. We can achieve both.”