Elon Musk, chair of the Department of Government Efficiency, has issued a new demand. Federal employees must report their accomplishments from the past week—or lose their jobs. The directive has sparked backlash from Democratic lawmakers and unions, with some urging workers to ignore it.
“This is a good opportunity for mass civil disobedience,” Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) posted on X. “Musk has no authority to do this.” He told federal employees to show up, write “GFY” letters, and keep doing their jobs.
The acronym GFY typically means “go f— yourself.” Casten didn’t hold back. “It takes a remarkable combination of arrogance and stupidity to think this is the best use of time for intelligence officers, VA workers, and air traffic controllers,” he added.
Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) also lashed out. “This is the ultimate d— boss move from Musk—except he isn’t even the boss, he’s just a d—.” She compared it to a bad boss demanding proof of worthiness over the weekend. “I’m on the side of the workers, not the billionaire —hole bosses,” she wrote.
Musk said the requirement is simple. Employees will receive an email asking them to list last week’s accomplishments. It should take no more than five minutes. The deadline? Monday at 11:59 p.m. Those who don’t comply will be considered resigned.
“Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk posted. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
Musk reassured workers the bar is low. “An email with some bullet points that make any sense at all is acceptable! Should take less than 5 mins to write,” he wrote.
His directive comes after Trump praised Musk’s work investigating government waste. Still, Trump urged him to “get more aggressive.” Musk replied on X: “Will do, Mr. President!”