Here's how federal workers are responding to the DOGE productivity-tracking email

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Aol/Business Insider

February 22, 2025 at 11:49 PM


Several federal workers across agencies told Business Insider they're frustrated and scared for their jobs after Elon Musk said they must email their work accomplishments or risk losing their jobs. Some say they're skeptical of the ramifications — others have been told not to respond.

The productivity-tracking email, sent Saturday afternoon from an HR account in the Office of Personnel Management, followed President Donald Trump's instruction to Musk to "get more aggressive" in reducing the size of the federal bureaucracy. It's the latest of DOGE's sweeping initiatives that have resulted in mass firings, funding pauses, and work stoppages in departments and agencies across the federal government.

Musk, who's closely linked to the DOGE office, teased that the email would be forthcoming in a post on X Saturday, writing: "Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation." "It's terrible," one Department of Education employee whose work has been slowed by executive orders and layoffs said. "It feels like harassment, especially sending it out on a Saturday and boasting about it in advance on X so that everyone could be checking their email afternoon in anticipation of its arrival."

Another federal employee — from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — said they "can only imagine how many people they'll fire based on the responses/non-responses to this." Another wondered "how much money is being wasted" on having federal employees respond to the email, while yet another questioned who would review the replies. Representatives for the White House and Office of Personnel Management did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

Read more: https://www.aol.com/heres-federal-workers-responding-doge-044919277.html

[Walleye]

1. Have they considered that it's likely they will be fired even if they do respond

[Biophilic]

2. Or their response will be used as evidence that they need to be fired.

There is no rhyme or reason to these requests. It would take hundreds of people hundreds of hours to read those posts let alone make sense of them. This is a straight up nasty power play.
I hope it begins the unraveling of trump’s supporters.

[Hugin]

5. They will use the unsubstantiated ruse that somehow the replies are being vetted by AI.

Mind you, only a claim. Like a lie.

[Walleye]

6. They should write their responses by hand in cursive and send it by US mail

[Hugin]

4. There's a video to Musk's historical tendencies to fire regardless of productivity.

Also, the firing of the entire team building out the charging infrastructure at Tesla (Swasticar for the purists) seemingly based on a whim.

[GPV]

3. Seriously. How many people would it take to review these letters? Are they knowledgeable in the vast array of

specialties represented there? Or will a confederate of dunces glance at a few, then just say everybody's got to go? I sense a theme in the slash and burn. Fire everyone, _then_ figure out who's essential and hire them back. This accomplishes a massive displacement of workers, and terrifies everyone, including the essential employees. That's why they are going scorched earth.

[usonian]

7. Flood the zone.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220061799

[e-mail]

My suggestion:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=20062944

"What I did last week"
https://pastebin.com/raw/Di0XEKQu

[Zackzzzz]

8. You would have to have remote access, many don't.