Though Elon Musk has exited the Donald Trump administration, federal workers are still sending emails detailing five things they did the previous week — a practice that Musk started and Kash Patel, tulsi Gabbard strongly resisted. Staff at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Social Security Administration are among those still dutifully submitting the updates Musk demanded under threat of termination for noncompliance, Axios reported.The report called it zombie management where even smallest of changes can’t be undone.
How the mail culture started
In February, Musk posted on social media that all federal employees would get an email asking them to explain what they’d accomplished over the last week. Failure to respond more than once, he said, would get you fired. The Office of Personnel Management acted on Musk’s post and sent the email to all federal workers. This is a work culture that Musk brought to X as well after he took over Twitter. The instruction caught the White House off guard as they did not know it was being instructed. FBI chief Kash Patel and DNI Tulsi Gabbard told their respective agencies not to toe the line. A Social Security employee said they were asked to send it every Monday before midnight. “Got tired of saying I hadn’t accomplished anything because we haven’t been given any work,” an employee at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said, adding that they were not told to stop the mail but there’s nothing to mail as the bureau is not doing anything.Some agencies feel the rule should continue as these emails maintain accountability. OPM spokesperson McLaurine Pinover said she submits her mail every week as she finds it an easy way to share her work with leadership. White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said, “The mission of eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse is a part of the DNA of the federal government and will continue under the direction of the President, his cabinet, and agency heads to enhance government efficiency and prioritize responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars.”