On Saturday, employees received from the Office or Personnel Management (OPM) throughout the federal government ‘NE -Answer claimed with “About 5 bullets of what you achieved last week. “On X, Elon Musk said that the failure to respond” will be taken as a resignation. ” The result? Confusion, chaos and resentment under a federal workforce that is increasingly attacking.
“So fucking stupid,” says one air traffic controller who received the email and received anonymity for fear of retaliation.
Leaders from many agencies seem to have been caught off guard. At the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which houses the National Weather Service, some drivers initially warned against the answer to the email in case it was a phishing attempt. Another NOAA employee says they were warned not to report on their job email after receiving it.
Other workers met conflicting guidance from their managers. At the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which expects deep cuts to be orchestrated by the so -called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), some employees said they were told to wait for further guidance while others say their managers instructed people to comply with it.
The e -mail seems to have even been sent to federal judges. “We understand that some judges and right staff have received” NE -mail from [email protected], “” NE -mail from the Director’s Office of the Department of Administrative Services for US Federal Courts. “Note that this e -mail does not come from the judiciary or the administrative office, and we suggest that no steps be taken.”
At least some military staff also received the email and were told to wait upon the guidance of the Department of Defense. The holding pattern seems to be the reaction to most agencies, where workers say they have not yet heard of senior leadership and how to deal with this latest escalation in Musk and Doge’s ongoing efforts to dramatically reduce the federal workforce. At the National Institutes of Health, for example, in ‘Ne post with the subject rule’ please wait for guidance ‘, some workers are told that’ information is coming ‘, without any indication of when or from whom.
Another consideration for many is not only whether they should answer, but also how. While the OPM -E -mail indicated that employees should not send classified information, links or attachments, which severely limit the way workers can respond to many government agencies.
“National security personnel are notified of the request of OPM, which takes them from the important work to ensure national security interests,” said one source, which received anonymity because of the nature of their work. “These are essential employees who keep us safe.”
“The executive committee is currently reviewing this request to determine appropriate guidelines on what information can be shared outside the agency,” reads’ Ne -mail of the office of the controller of the currency, which sits within the Treasury section. “Please wait for additional guidance.”
NBC News reported on Saturday that even Kash Patel, the newly installed Federal Bureau of Investigation Director and a close ally of President Donald Trump, instructed employees not to respond to the OPM post.