Bay Area-based federal employees said they are grappling with how to respond to an email sent Saturday asking them to list their accomplishments from the previous week.
Elon Musk, who is leading the Trump administration's efforts to slash the federal government, said those who don't reply could lose their jobs. Meanwhile, Some federal agencies are sending out conflicting guidance to their employees.
One federal government employee, who we'll call "James," spoke with NBC Bay Area on Sunday about how this email and other recent changes at the federal level are impacting him. James asked us not to share his real name or reveal his identity for fear of retaliation.
At 1:46 p.m. Pacific Time on Saturday, James received an email from the Office of Personnel Management asking, "What did you do last week?"
This email was flagged as high importance and said, "Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager." The email stated that the deadline to complete this task is Monday at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
James said he and his colleagues have been checking their emails constantly lately because they're "anticipating things like this happening all the time, it’s not shocking anymore."
Saturday, Elon Musk posted on X that the email had been sent to "all federal employees."
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Musk added, "Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation."
"How would anyone feel if your boss came up to you and said ‘You have one day to tell me what you did last week to justify your existence in our corporation?'" James asked.
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"That is a really tough pill to swallow. The other part that really bothered me was, who is going to read these and qualify that what I did justifies me having my job?" James added.
So far, James has survived recent rounds of layoffs for federal workers as Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency seek to cut federal spending.
James has been in his current role for eleven months and is still considered a probationary employee.
Employment attorney Michael Bernick with Duane Morris LLP explained that in the federal government, probationary employees, like contractors, have fewer protections and can find their positions more at risk.
Bernick said of the recent changes under the Trump administration, "Yes, there are quick actions being taken, some of them will result in layoffs, particularly with probationary workers and contractors."
"But, it will also be a process that will be slowed somewhat as these issues work their way through the courts," Bernick added, noting that many of these changes have faced legal pushback.
Bernick pointed out that not all federal agencies seem aligned about this particular directive.
The Department of Defense said it has instructed workers to "pause" responding to the email.
"The Department of Defense is responsible for reviewing the performance of its personnel and it will conduct any review in accordance with its own procedures," said a statement from the department.
NBC News reports employees at the FBI, the State Department, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Security Agency got similar messages. NBC also reports that officials at the Health and Human Services Department and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services did ask employees to respond by the Monday deadline in an email.
"I think given what we’ve seen on the pushback, this particular email will have little or no impact," Bernick said.
Still, the deadline to reply to the email is looming.
James drafted a response to the email but said he is holding off sending it for now at the request of his union.
In the short term, James is worried that his position could be jeopardized.
In the long term, James said he is worried his department will lose institutional knowledge and valuable staff.
James said he wanted to speak up about his experience because "there are people behind these jobs."
"They are people in the community, they are the friends, family neighbors," he continued. "They’re not just faceless people pushing paper around collecting paychecks in Washington, D.C., they’re all around the United States."
