Elon Musk is warning federal workers: Don’t doge this order.
The tech mega-billionaire said early Monday that government employees who are still working from home will be put on administrative leave starting this week as he leans into President Trump’s call to “get more aggressive.”
“Those who ignored President Trump’s executive order to return to work have now received over a month’s warning,” Musk, 53, wrote on X in response to a clip of Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) claiming that half of government buildings aren’t occupied.
“Starting this week, those who still fail to return to office will be placed on administrative leave.”
During his first day back in office, Trump, 78, took executive action directing heads of government agencies to end remote work arrangements “as soon as practicable.”
Musk has billed his efforts at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as an effort, in part, to ensure that Trump’s executive orders are being properly carried out.
The Office of Management and Budget created a carveout for the return to office mandate for workers with “disability, qualifying medical condition, or other compelling reason.”
OPM, an agency that Musk’s DOGE works with, has estimated that roughly 10% of the federal workforce permanently works remotely due to those types of exemptions.
“We think a very substantial number of people will not show up to work, and therefore our government will get smaller and more efficient,” Trump publicly stated last month. “And that’s what we’ve been looking to do for many, many decades, frankly.”
It’s not clear whether Musk wants to terminate employees with medical exemptions, as well.
Musk’s early Monday warning to federal employees comes on the heels of a weekend ultimatum to employees to email OPM five bullet points of their accomplishments last week.
OPM had blasted out the Musk-directed email to all federal workers on Saturday and gave them a Monday at 11: 59 p.m. deadline to reply. Musk then publicly wrote on X that “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation” — a key provision that was not noted in the email blast.
Unions, Democrats and even a handful of Republicans including as Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) expressed outrage at the email, noting it came on the weekend and that some workers may have been on vacation when it hit their inbox. Musk insisted that “the bar is very low here.”
Soon, an apparent power struggle between OPM and a handful of government agencies and department heads erupted.
Leaders of some intel and security agencies, including FBI director Kash Patel, sent out follow-up email blasts to their workers advising them not to respond. Patel told his staffers that the bureau, not OPM, is in charge of personnel decisions.
Other agencies and departments such as Health and Human Services, the Pentagon, the State Department and more issued similar missives to employees not to respond.
The Musk-directed email came not long after Trump publicly nudged Musk to “get more aggressive.” Trump made the request amid media reports of growing friction between Trump administration officials and Musk.
Musk has a reputation for sending similar email blasts to workers at his companies.
The world’s richest man has crusaded to dramatically overhaul the vast federal bureaucracy and mold it into something far more cost-efficient and effective. Many of his initiatives have faced hefty court challenges, with over six dozen lawsuits pending.
Thus far, the Trump administration is estimated to have fired or laid off at least 20,000 workers.
