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Coverage dated February 21, 2025 to February 24, 2025

Trump backs Musk as he roils the federal workforce with demands and threats

Headline from ABC 7 Los Angeles, on the newest of 2 developments

President Donald Trump is backing Elon Musk's demand that federal employees explain their recent accomplishments or risk getting fired.

ABC 7 Los Angeles's own description from its feed. We collect headlines and these descriptions, not full articles; read the original reporting below.

Developments in this update

2 dated developments, oldest first, newest marked. Each is named by one outlet's own headline; open its reports to see every outlet that covered it.

  1. Elon Musk says federal employees must document work in email or be fired

    Headline from Delaware Public Media ·

  2. Newest

    Trump backs Musk as he roils the federal workforce with demands and threats

    Headline from ABC 7 Los Angeles ·

Read the reports

Reports & sources

67 articles, oldest first.

  1. Forbes

    Elon Musk Says Federal Employees Must Explain Their Work Or Be Fired (opens Forbes)

    Published

    Forbes's feed description

    The post, which contains few details, is Musk’s latest effort to slash the federal workforce.

  2. Fox5 Atlanta

    Photos: Federal employees get email asking ‘what they accomplished last week’ (opens Fox5 Atlanta)

    Published

    Fox5 Atlanta's feed description

    Elon Musk said all federal employees will be asked to report “what they got done last week," and that failure to reply would be considered a resignation.

  3. New York Times

    Elon Musk Tells Federal Workers to Detail Work in an Email or Lose Their Jobs (opens New York Times)

    Published

    New York Times's feed description

    Elon Musk has drawn inspiration from his 2022 takeover of Twitter with the tactic. His threat on social media of termination did not appear in an email to federal workers requesting the work summaries.

  4. The Guardian

    Musk tells US federal workers to explain what they achieved last week or be fired (opens The Guardian)

    Published

    The Guardian's feed description

    ‘Cruel and disrespectful’ request to employees sparks confusion across key government agencies

  5. Delaware Public Media

    Elon Musk says federal employees must document work in email or be fired (opens Delaware Public Media)

    Published

    Delaware Public Media's feed description

    Federal workers across the U.S. government received an email on Saturday, with an apparent ultimatum. Musk has used a similar tactic at companies he owns.

  6. FOX 4 Dallas

    Elon Musk says federal employees must email ‘what they got done last week’ (opens FOX 4 Dallas)

    Published

    FOX 4 Dallas's feed description

    Elon Musk said all federal employees will be asked to report “what they got done last week," and that failure to reply would be considered a resignation.

  7. Delaware Public Media

    Elon Musk tells federal employees to document work in email or be fired (opens Delaware Public Media)

    Published

    Delaware Public Media's feed description

    Federal workers across the U.S. government received an email on Saturday, with an apparent ultimatum. Musk has used a similar tactic at companies he owns.

  8. Rolling Stone

    Elon Musk Says He'll Fire Every Federal Worker Who Ignores His Email (opens Rolling Stone)

    Published

    Rolling Stone's feed description

    Musk moves to speed up Trump's government purge, demanding federal employees name five things they "accomplished last week" — or else he'll fire them.

  9. Legal Insurrection

    Musk Email Demands All Federal Employees Justify Their Paychecks By Monday Night or Resign (opens Legal Insurrection)

    Published

    Legal Insurrection's feed description

    Subject Line: “What did you do last week?”

  10. Breitbart News

    Musk: Federal Employees to Be Questioned About Job Accomplishments (opens Breitbart News)

    Published

    Breitbart News's feed description

    Elon Musk revealed that "all federal employees" would be receiving an email asking them to explain what they accomplished over the past week.

  11. NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

    Elon Musk says federal workers must justify their work — or resign (opens NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth)

    Published

    NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth's feed description

    Billionaire Elon Musk issued an ultimatum to federal employees Saturday, saying in a post on his social media platform X that employees must respond to an email...

  12. Deutsche Welle

    Elon Musk says federal workers must explain jobs or resign – DW (opens Deutsche Welle)

    Published

    Deutsche Welle's feed description

    The DOGE head said an email is being sent to all federal workers to explain their roles within 48 hours or resign. The legally dubious move comes after Trump urged Musk to be more "aggressive" in government cuts.

  13. Mother Jones

    Even Trump officials are reminding federal employees that Elon Musk is not their boss (opens Mother Jones)

    Published

    Mother Jones's feed description

    Kash Patel and others push back against a DOGE inquiry that's been emailed to workers across government.

  14. Newsweek

    Elon Musk faces legal threat over federal worker ultimatum: "Utter disdain" (opens Newsweek)

    Published

    Newsweek's feed description

    The American Federation of Government Employees said it will continue to challenge the Trump administration's firings of workers.

  15. Al Jazeera

    Some US agencies tell federal workers to ignore Musk email (opens Al Jazeera)

    Published

    Al Jazeera's feed description

    Billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk emailed federal workers asking them to list what they had done last week.

  16. Washington Examiner

    Federal workers who don't email weekly achievements will be fired: Musk (opens Washington Examiner)

    Published

    Washington Examiner's feed description

    Musk’s directive comes after Trump called on the DOGE leader to “get more aggressive” in a social media post earlier on Saturday.

  17. BGR

    Elon Musk channels Office Space with email to federal workers ('What would you say you do here?') (opens BGR)

    Published

    BGR's feed description

    Elon Musk just gave the entire federal workforce an ultimatum: Tell me what you did last week. If you don't respond, resignation accepted.

  18. West Hawaii Today

    Musk orders US federal workers to report on work or get fired (opens West Hawaii Today)

    Published

    West Hawaii Today's feed description

    Elon Musk, the billionaire head of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, threatened on Saturday to fire any federal worker who fails to explain what work they have accomplished during the previous week.

  19. Honolulu Star-Advertiser

    Some U.S. agencies tell workers not to reply to Musk’s email | Honolulu Star-Advertiser (opens Honolulu Star-Advertiser)

    Published

    Honolulu Star-Advertiser's feed description

    WASHINGTON >> Multiple U.S. federal agencies told employees not to respond immediately to a demand by President Donald Trump’s adviser Elon Musk to list their accomplishments in the last week or be fired, as a chaotic campaign to cull the bureaucracy pushes forward.

  20. St. Louis Post-Dispatch

    Trump backs Musk as the billionaire roils the federal workforce with demands and threats (opens St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

    Published

    St. Louis Post-Dispatch's feed description

    President Trump said federal employees who don’t respond to Musk’s email may end up “semi-fired” or “fired” — or may “not even exist.”

  21. ABC 7 Los Angeles

    Trump backs Musk as he roils the federal workforce with demands and threats (opens ABC 7 Los Angeles)

    Published

    ABC 7 Los Angeles's feed description

    President Donald Trump is backing Elon Musk's demand that federal employees explain their recent accomplishments or risk getting fired.

  22. The New Republic

    Elon Musk Gets Hilariously Trolled Over Dumb Email to Federal Workers (opens The New Republic)

    Published

    The New Republic's feed description

    Elon Musk asked federal employees to tell him what they did the previous week.

  23. Breitbart News

    Several Federal Agencies Tell Workers to Ignore Elon Musk’s Email Directive (opens Breitbart News)

    Published

    Breitbart News's feed description

    Several federal agencies and unions are telling worker to buck Elon Musk's email directive telling them to account for the work they have done over the past week — even though Musk said not answering "will be taken as a resignation."

  24. CNN

    Trump appointees appear to contradict Musk for first time in pushback to OPM email (opens CNN)

    Published

    CNN's feed description

    A rift appeared to open Sunday between some of President Donald Trump’s agency heads and Elon Musk, the billionaire tasked with reforming the federal government, over Musk’s demand that all federal employees state their weekly accomplishments or risk termination.

  25. The New Republic

    Trump Officials Tell Workers to Ignore Elon Musk’s Email Ultimatum (opens The New Republic)

    Published

    The New Republic's feed description

    There is mass confusion as some federal agencies are telling employees to forget about that ominous email from Elon Musk.

Showing the first 25 of 47 headlines. ·

Identical headlines usually mean shared wire copy. They are counted as separate articles but are not independent confirmation.