Musk appears to spar with Trump admin over asking federal workers what they did the previous week

Billionaire Elon Musk on Monday night appeared to conflict with some members of the Trump administration, after the Office of Personnel Management sent an updated guidance that said response to Musk's email was voluntary. 

Musk told federal workers last week that they must respond to a weekly email that asks them to provide a short description of their work in the week prior, but several department heads have told employees not to comply with the order.

The information requests come as the Trump administration seeks to downsize the federal workforce, and provide transparency and accountability in the federal government. 

Musk posted on X on Monday that people who do not respond to the email by its deadline will be given a second chance, but if they miss that one then it would result in termination. 

"Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance," Musk said. "Failure to respond a second time will result in termination."

The comment is a change from last week, where the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) claimed it would view those who do not respond as tending their resignations.

The comment also comes after President Donald Trump said he supported Musk's move to force responses to the emails, per Fox News.

"I thought it was great," Trump told reporters. "Because we have people who don't show up to work and nobody even knows if they work for the government. So by asking the question, 'Tell us what you did this week,' what [Musk is] doing is saying, ‘Are you actually working?' If you don't answer, you’re sort of semi-fired, or you're fired, because a lot of people are not answering because they don’t even exist."

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.