On Monday, Elon Musk, a member of the Trump administration, stepped up his efforts to rein in the federal bureaucracy by threatening to put government employees on administrative leave if they had not returned to their jobs full time.
Last month, President Trump issued an executive order halting the broad allowance of work-from-home and directing government employees back to their offices. Musk’s threat follows this directive.
“Those who disregarded President Trump’s order to resume work have now been served more than one month’s notice,” Musk wrote on X in response to a Fox News segment featuring Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.). “Those who have not yet returned to their offices will be placed on administrative leave beginning this week.”
On the first day of his presidency, Trump issued a number of executive orders, one of which ordered government employees back to the office. “As soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis,” reads the directive mandating a return to in-person employment.
Musk, who is effectively leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, has once again put himself between employees and their usual line of command by declaring that they will be placed on leave this week.
In an email sent over the weekend, Musk’s team demanded five bullet points detailing employees’ accomplishments from the previous week and asked, “What did you do?” This caused widespread misunderstanding throughout organizations. A power struggle quickly ensued as Trump allies in various federal agencies told their staff not to respond.
In an email to State Department workers, FBI Director Kash Patel told agency personnel to “please pause any responses,” and “no employee is obligated to report their activities outside of their Department chain of command.”
There was an obvious disagreement between such instructions and Musk’s statement that silence would be “taken as a resignation.”
Numerous Republican senators and state representatives backed the email despite agency disapproval and annoyance.
Senator John Curtis (R-Utah) stated on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday morning that he does not believe this request is particularly challenging, although he did urge “a little compassion and, quite frankly, dignity, in this as well.”
Even if some of his initiatives are being obstructed in court, Musk has already demonstrated tremendous power over the federal government by ordering the dismissal or departure of thousands of government employees. In response to concerns raised about the rapidity and breadth of the changes, Trump administration officials informed AWN on Friday that the current rapid pace may soon calm down.
Trump has been vocal in his support of Musk’s efforts and expressed his desire for Musk to step up his pace over the weekend.
To Truth Social, he wrote, “Elon is doing a great job, but I would like to see him get more aggressive.” This was his opinion. We must not forget that our nation is ours to save and, in the end, to elevate to new heights. MAGA!”