The Agriculture Department told its employees Monday they do not need to respond to Elon Musk’s demand that federal workers submit five things they accomplished last week or face dismissal, according to an email viewed by POLITICO.
USDA said in an email that replying to the request, which came from the Office of Personnel Management, is voluntary and there will be no penalties for nonresponse. If employees choose to respond anyway, the email notes that they “should not transmit any confidential, sensitive, investigative, or classified information.”
The guidance directly contradicts the OPM email Saturday, which told all federal workers to submit five bullet points detailing their accomplishments in the last week by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time Monday, with failure to respond “taken as a resignation.”
The White House itself has walked back Musk’s weekend threat, telling POLITICO that federal employees should defer to their individual agency on how to respond to OPM. Multiple agencies including the FBI and Department of Health and Human Services have instructed employees not to respond at all, while the Commerce, Education and Transportation departments are mandating responses.
