Elon Musk tells US government workers to justify their work or resign

It comes after President Trump fired a number of senior military figures.

The world's richest man has been appointed by returning president Donald Trump to lead his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) - a committee tasked with cutting government spending.

Posting on X, Musk wrote: "Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump's instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation."

Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week.

Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 22, 2025

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers, including some judges, court staff and prison officials, have reported receiving the email from the Office of Personnel Management.

The email reads: "Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager."

It also includes a deadline of Monday at 11:59pm.

Responding to this email would take less than 2 minutes for any truly productive person.

Why is this in any way controversial? pic.twitter.com/vm1Yig5bRi

— Matt Van Swol (@matt_vanswol) February 22, 2025

The social media threat comes after Mr Trump fired America's top general and a series of other senior military figures.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General Charles 'CQ' Brown - America's highest-ranking general and only the second black general to serve as chairman - was fired with immediate effect on Friday.

Trump also pushed out five other admirals and generals in an unprecedented shake-up of US military leadership.

On Thursday, Musk celebrated his new role within the US government at a gathering of conservatives by waving a chainsaw in the air.

The SpaceX and Tesla founder brandished the power tool on stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference at Washington, D.C.

The chainsaw, which was gifted to Musk by Argentina’s President Javier Melei, alluded to slashing government spending.

“This is the chainsaw for democracy,” Musk told the crowd. “Legalize comedy . . . It seems like we should have a good time, you know.”