Trump administration backs off requiring email response

Over the weekend, officials at the Departments of Defense, State, Homeland Security and Energy told workers not to respond to the government-wide “What did you do last week?” email sent by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on Saturday. At DHS, that contradicted earlier guidance from leaders at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and FEMA, which are both housed within DHS.

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) staff were initially told to reply, but then received a Sunday evening email asking them to “pause” responses pending additional guidance. Late Monday, a third email told employees, “There is no HHS expectation that HHS employees respond to OPM and there is no impact to your employment with the agency if you choose not to respond.”

For those that chose to respond, the Department advised them not to name other HHS employees they worked with, matters they are working on, or specific grants or contracts. “Assume that what you write will be read by malign foreign actors and tailor your response accordingly,” the email warned.

Meanwhile, agencies including the Treasury, Veterans Affairs, Commerce and Interior Departments instructed their employees to respond with a range of instructions on how to do so while also reminding them not to share classified information.

The new guidance contradicts claims made by Musk and President Trump that those who did not respond were at risk of losing their jobs.

Trump, speaking in the Oval Office on Monday, made unfounded claims that some federal workers aren’t answering the email because “they don’t even exist.”

“And then if you don’t answer, like, you’re sort of semi-fired or you’re fired, because a lot of people are not answering because they don’t even exist,” he said, without giving evidence.

Trump added that agencies that told workers not to respond, including the State Department and the FBI, did so “in a friendly manner.”

“They don’t mean that in any way combatively with Elon. They’re just saying there are some people that you don’t want to really have them tell you what they’re working on last week,” the president said.

Questions over who is in charge 

The divided response among federal agencies is the most visible sign of pushback by some officials — including at the most powerful cabinet agencies that deal with national security — to Musk’s aggressive reshaping of the government through his Department of Government Efficiency effort.

“My entire weekend has been a stress-filled ball of crazy. No one seems to know who is running the country. No one knows what we are supposed to do,” said one federal employee who had received a series of changing instructions from supervisors on whether or not to comply with the request. This person spoke on condition of anonymity because they are still employed by a federal agency and fear retaliation in their job.

Despite the latest guidance that responding is voluntary, some federal workers feel they have little choice.

Unions update legal action

Many federal workers are covered by civil service protections that prevent them from being fired without cause.

A coalition of groups, including labor unions, has asked a federal court in San Francisco to temporarily block the Trump administration from firing probationary employees and from soliciting responses to OPM’s email.

The lawsuit, originally filed on Feb. 19, argues that OPM has no authority to manage employees of federal agencies other than its own.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup gave the government until 10 a.m. PT Wednesday to file its opposition, and scheduled a hearing for Thursday afternoon.