The directive has been issued: Federal employees must provide a detailed account of their activities from the previous week or risk losing their jobs. The mandate came to light following a Saturday post by Elon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the White House administration.

Federal workers received a communication, reportedly from Musk, which inquired, “What did you do last week?” They were instructed to respond with five significant accomplishments from the past week, excluding any classified information. The deadline to submit the information was set for Monday at midnight.

Elon Musk, the Chief executive officer of Tesla Inc, is known for his disruptive strategies and this move appears to be no different. He stated that the request is in alignment with the instructions from the president. Musk further added that non-compliance would be interpreted as a resignation.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which had previously given over two million federal employees the option to resign, was one of the agencies that promptly communicated this new directive to its employees. An OPM spokesperson stated, “As part of the Trump Administration’s commitment to an efficient and accountable federal workforce, OPM is asking employees to provide a brief summary of what they did last week by the end of Monday, CC’ing their manager. Agencies will determine any next steps.”

President Trump, earlier in the day, praised Musk’s efforts in streamlining the federal government on Truth Social and expressed his wish for even more aggressive measures. “Remember, we have a country to save, but ultimately, to make greater than before,” he wrote.

However, this move by Musk and the Trump administration was met with stern criticism from the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, Everett Kelley. In a written statement, Kelley expressed his concern for the many veterans serving in the civil service who are now forced to justify their job duties to Musk, who he called an “out-of-touch, privileged, unelected billionaire.”

Amid the turmoil, the new FBI Director Kash Patel advised his employees to hold off on responding to the OPM memo for now. He assured that if further information is needed, the FBI, through the Office of the Director, will coordinate the responses.

The White House has yet to respond to these developments. However, at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington on Saturday, Trump praised DOGE for its battle against government waste, fraud, and abuse, and lauded Musk’s efforts.

Since his appointment to head DOGE, Musk has been instrumental in cutting down numerous federal positions across various agencies. DOGE has also been in controversy for seeking access to sensitive government data.

Trump also highlighted his federal buyout plan, alleging that around 75,000 federal workers had accepted what his administration had termed “deferred resignations.” This comes after Trump signed an executive order ending the remote work option for federal workers last month. “We want to make government smaller, more efficient,” Trump said. “We want to keep the best people, and we’re not going to keep the worst people. And you know, we’re doing another thing, if they don’t report for work, we’re firing them. In other words, you have to go to the office.”

This report was compiled with contributions from Jacob Rosen, Jennifer Jacobs, and Sara Cook.