Elon Musk’s Empty Ultimatum – The Atlantic

Shortly earlier than 11 a.m. on Sunday, the 80,000 physicians, well being scientists, illness detectives, and others tasked with safeguarding the nation’s well being acquired directions to reply to an electronic mail despatched the day earlier than asking them, “What did you do final week?”

The e-mail arose from a Saturday dispatch issued by President Donald Trump on the social-media platform he owns, Reality Social. “ELON IS DOING A GREAT JOB, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET MORE AGGRESSIVE,” he wrote.

The response from Elon Musk arrived seven hours afterward the social-media platform he owns, X. The billionaire Trump confidant main the trouble to slash the federal workforce wrote that afternoon that he was appearing on Trump’s “directions” and guaranteeing that “all federal staff will shortly obtain an electronic mail requesting to grasp what they bought completed final week.”

The outcome was a government-wide electronic mail directing federal staff to element their accomplishments over the earlier week, in 5 bullet factors. Musk wrote on X: “Failure to reply can be taken as a resignation.”

The directive despatched businesses scrambling to inform their staff what to do. Some instructed them to not reply. Others made clear {that a} reply was obligatory. After which there was the Division of Well being and Human Providers—an epicenter of the chaos engulfing Washington.

“This can be a reliable electronic mail,” learn Sunday morning’s directions from HHS, which suggested staff to reply by the deadline set for 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday.

However later that day, the instructions modified. Workers have been advised to “pause” answering the e-mail, in accordance with new steering despatched Sunday at 5 p.m., which pointed to considerations concerning the sensitivity of division enterprise. HHS promised that up to date steering would arrive Monday at midday.

By late afternoon on Monday, many federal well being staff had left their places of work with no new steering, unsure about whether or not to reply to the e-mail and whether or not ignoring it will jeopardize their jobs.

They didn’t know that the federal authorities’s foremost personnel company, which had despatched Saturday’s government-wide electronic mail, had quietly instructed businesses noon Monday {that a} response was voluntary. These directions successfully rescinded Musk’s threats.

For Musk, the episode was a setback. For federal staff struggling to get their bearings, they advised us it was simply another reason to really feel each fury and worry.

“This entire administration is a fucking prepare wreck,” a federal well being official mentioned.

The shifting and contradictory directions divided Trump’s Cupboard, and for the primary time, created daylight between Musk and the White Home. Even earlier than the administration formally conceded that responses have been voluntary, Trump advisers had privately signaled help for company heads who advised their staff to not reply to the e-mail, owing to the sensitivity of their work.

Many of the pushback to the Musk directive got here from the nation’s national-security businesses, together with the CIA, the FBI, and the Division of Homeland Safety. A senior official at NASA, which suggested staff to not reply, referred to as the request an “unprecedented ask and unprompted assault on our workforce” in a weekend electronic mail to staff that was described to us. A deputy commander on the Navy advised individuals in his chain of command, “Please do NOT reply right now,” accenting his order utilizing daring purple textual content.

The cascading collection of contradictory steering mirrored the bizarre stability of energy between Trump and Musk, and the unpredictable penalties for tens of millions of federal staff. “It’s a psyop,” mentioned a senior official on the Division of Veterans Affairs, referring to a psychological operation, on this case supposed to intimidate federal staff. “It’s a type of harassment. However there’s nobody to complain to as a result of nobody is aware of precisely the place it’s coming from or who’s behind it.”

The president’s Saturday morning submit spurred Musk to confer along with his deputies on the Division of Authorities Effectivity and develop the rapidly written electronic mail, in accordance with a White Home official. The e-mail was despatched by the Workplace of Personnel Administration, now staffed at senior ranges by Musk’s deputies. They advised company staff that they supposed to make use of synthetic intelligence to investigate the responses and develop reviews about additional modifications to the federal workforce, in accordance with an OPM official accustomed to their feedback.

Two senior administration officers mentioned that the haphazard nature of Musk’s directive rankled some within the West Wing, as considerations develop that the billionaire’s authority is encroaching on the facility of Cupboard secretaries.

Trump, for his half, publicly backed Musk’s effort. “I believed it was nice as a result of we’ve those that don’t present as much as work and no one even is aware of in the event that they work for the federal government,” the president advised reporters throughout an look Monday with French President Emmanuel Macron. “What he’s doing is saying, ‘Are you really working?’ After which in case you don’t reply, you’re type of semi-fired otherwise you’re fired, as a result of lots of people will not be answering as a result of they don’t even exist.”

White Home Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt additionally defended the actions: “This was the president’s route to Elon, and it’s being carried out as deliberate,” she mentioned. “Everybody on the White Home knew very properly that it was coming.”

The identical can’t be mentioned for different elements of the federal authorities, the place company heads have been caught off guard and lots of recipients mistook the e-mail for phishing. Workers on depart or on trip feared that they might lose their job. At HHS, division management was given only a five-minute warning earlier than the e-mail went out, a senior official on the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention advised his workers on Monday, in accordance with individuals accustomed to his account. HHS didn’t reply to a request for remark.

A few of the businesses that suggested staff to reply to Musk’s electronic mail sought to justify the request in steering issued on Monday. John W. York, a senior counselor to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, advised staff, “The OPM message displays an effort to extend accountability by the federal workforce, simply as there may be within the non-public sector. Given the voluminous and intensely vital work that Treasury workers carry out each day, we anticipate that compliance is not going to be troublesome or time-consuming.”

Round 5 p.m. Monday, HHS lastly issued new steering affirming {that a} reply was not obligatory however warning staff who did element their skilled actions to guard delicate knowledge. “Assume that what you write can be learn by malign overseas actors and tailor your response accordingly,” the steering acknowledged.

In the meantime, there have been indicators that OPM was working to make elements of the Musk directive everlasting, no less than inside the company. In an electronic mail to staff Monday night, OPM’s appearing director wrote that he had requested the chief human capital officer to “operationalize this train” in order that staff proceed to “submit weekly accomplishment bullets.”

In sure corners of the federal authorities, staff made mild of the Musk request. One Pentagon official advised a colleague that his reply would come with time spent on Fox Information, Reality Social, and X—extra dependable sources of details about the phrases of his employment than his personal bosses.

“Who’re we taking orders from?” the Pentagon official mentioned. “Nobody actually is aware of.”