"Answer or resign": The email that Elon Musk has sent to all US officials

Can an email change the structure of a government? Elon Musk thinks so. On February 22, thousands of federal employees in the US received an unusual message: they had to detail in five points what they had done the previous week. And failure to respond would mean their automatic resignation. The sender (at least ideologically) of this ultimatum was none other than Musk, now head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the new administration of Donald Trump.

Since his arrival as an external adviser to the Government, Musk has defended a drastic reduction of the bureaucratic apparatus , but his strategy has unleashed a whirlwind of reactions. From the FBI to public employee unions , many voices warn about the chaos that this measure is generating.

The message, titled "What did you do last week?" , instructed employees to respond with five bullet points about their recent tasks and copy their superiors. It also specified that no documents or links should be attached. But the most controversial was Musk's warning on X (formerly Twitter):

"At the direction of President @realDonaldTrump, all federal employees will receive an email to report on their work. Failure to respond will be treated as a resignation."

Musk's stated intention is to eradicate the waste of public resources. According to him, there are officials who do not even check their email and, in some cases, he believes that "identities of deceased people are being used to collect salaries." However, Musk has not provided evidence for these accusations.

The impact of the email was immediate. At several key government agencies, managers told employees not to respond without a clear order . Among them was FBI Director Kash Patel, a Trump appointee, who sent out an internal instruction:

"The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is responsible for all of our review processes and will conduct them in accordance with our procedures," Reuters reported.

Other departments, including State, Justice and Commerce, have also urged staff not to respond without consulting their superiors. Even the US intelligence community has issued the same instruction.

The confrontation reveals a rift within the Republican government itself. While some support the idea of ​​greater efficiency, others see Musk's initiative as a hasty action without legal basis.

Mail is not an isolated case. Since taking over at DOGE, Musk has overseen the elimination of more than 20,000 jobs and offered exit incentives to another 75,000 employees . According to Reuters, some agencies have had to rehire key staff due to hasty layoffs affecting critical areas, such as nuclear safety and public health.

In addition, some employees have been forced to accept a "deferred resignation" program, which allows them to remain on the payroll for a few months before being permanently laid off. This uncertainty has created a climate of fear among employees, as one IRS worker described: "I wonder when someone will say 'enough,'" he said.

The federal employees union, the American Federation of Government Employees , has announced that it will fight any "unlawful" dismissals resulting from this process. Its president, Everett Kelley, harshly criticized Musk and Trump:

"It is cruel and disrespectful to hundreds of thousands of veterans working in the civil service. They are being forced to justify their employment to an out-of-touch billionaire who has never worked a day in the public sector."

The backdrop to this conflict is the US public debt, which has reached $36 trillion . There is a consensus among Democrats and Republicans that the administration needs reforms to be more efficient. However, the way Musk has implemented his measures has been described as "chaotic and insensitive."

There is criticism even within the Republican Party. Senator John Curtis of Utah supported cutting government spending, but warned that Musk should take a more humane approach:

"If I could say one thing to Elon Musk, it would be: 'Please put some compassion into this.' These are real people, with mortgages and families," he said.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was harsher, calling the process "a farce that will be defeated in court."

What began as a promise to cut government spending has become a battle between Musk and the American bureaucracy. His defenders argue that he is uncovering inefficiencies and corruption, while his detractors accuse him of carrying out an unprecedented purge.

The key question is how far will he go in his crusade? Musk has made it clear that he has no intention of backing down. Meanwhile, the Trump administration remains mired in a storm of protests, uncertainty and internal disputes.