Federal employees spent Monday in a state of confusion. They were trying to figure out how to respond to a weekend email from Elon Musk. This email asked them to explain their work from the previous week or risk losing their job.

The situation was chaotic. Some were told to comply, while others were advised not to. Many were still waiting for clear instructions from their agency leaders late in the day.

President Trump initially praised Musk's email demand. He said anyone who didn't respond was "semi-fired or fired. " However, a few hours later, Trump's own administration contradicted him. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) notified agencies that responding was voluntary. They said that not responding would not mean resignation.

This left many federal workers in the dark, just hours before Musk's deadline of 11:59 p. m. Monday.

One career employee at the Department of Veterans Affairs said, "Our chief said it was mandatory. Then OPM said it became voluntary. Then I guess Trump just told us it was mandatory again. No one knows who is in charge and who to listen to. " Another employee at the IRS simply said, "It's bedlam. "

CNN spoke to federal employees across multiple agencies on Monday. Most asked not to be named for fear of retribution.

Some high-profile federal agencies, like the Justice Department, State Department, Pentagon, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Energy, told staff not to respond to the email.

The Commerce and Transportation departments, however, instructed their staff to comply. Commerce asked employees to send the information to their supervisors. This included the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic controllers, who are already working mandatory overtime.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association denounced Musk's move as a "distraction" during a time when the air safety system is "fragile. "

NASA, on the other hand, said it would respond on behalf of the agency. They added that workers are not required to answer the OPM's email, and their employment will not be affected if they opt not to respond.

Ironically, employees at OPM, the agency that sent the initial email, were left in the dark about how to handle the instructions themselves until about 6 p. m. Monday evening.

The chaos began Saturday after a mass email from OPM landed in the inboxes of federal workers across the country. Work was disrupted as staffers and officials tried to decipher a multitude of emails. Agency heads debated how to respond to Musk's demands.

David J. Demas, president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 3003, which represents 320 Federal Bureau of Prisons workers, received 30 phone calls on Monday from his members. They were asking how to respond to OPM’s email.

Some workers who were off duty wanted to know if they needed to come to the prison to reply. Those who were working asked for guidance on what to include in their five bullet points.

Just before 11 a. m. Monday, the Department of Justice sent an email to workers saying that they did not need to respond. Demas then relayed this to his colleagues.

At another government facility, officials set up a room to allow employees without computer access to go online and send in their accomplishments during the prior week. One federal worker told CNN that they “haven’t done any of my actual duties due to the email and having to respond to those below me and trying to get clarification from those above me. ”

At the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one worker said they “haven’t done any of my actual duties due to the email and having to respond to those below me and trying to get clarification from those above me. ”

Like at multiple other agencies, the guidance from NOAA supervisors and leaders shifted with the latest instructions coming from a high-ranking official at the Department of Commerce. They said staffers should provide the five bullet points on their work activities to their supervisors by the deadline. NOAA is part of Commerce.

Another Department of Veterans Affairs staffer told CNN that they had to attend multiple meetings on Monday about the directive. This interfered with doing their job. “That’s all time taken away from patient care, ” said the employee, whose leadership recommended that staffers reply to OPM’s email. “It’s totally disruptive. ”

At the Department of Health and Human Services, employees were told that if they were going to respond to the Musk email, they should refrain from being descriptive. They should keep answers as general as possible. “Assume that what you write will be read by malign foreign actors and tailor your response accordingly, ” read an HHS email.

Some federal workers took a more sarcastic approach, at least among themselves. At the IRS, one group of colleagues came up with activities they performed last week as a fake response to Musk’s email. The list included “fought the BS you started, kept the employees from beating up their managers, kept your equipment in a working condition without it being thrown against the damn wall, helped the employees understand that this was the new administration’s decision and not management, ” and “trying to minimize the fear, confusion and anger you cause for NO REASON…DURING TAX SEASON! ”

Video screens at the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, DC, on Monday played a fake video of Trump kissing Musk’s toes. It featured the words “Long Live The Real King. ” It was later removed and replaced with information “showcasing the wins of the Trump administration. ”

At the Environmental Protection Agency, where staffers were told to comply with Musk’s demand, but to do so without divulging certain sensitive information, some staffers bristled at the mixed message.

“Nobody has a spine, ” said one EPA worker. “Because EPA is a target, they’re trying to play nice with them, thinking that might make them not subject to deeper cuts. When you appease a bully, you give them license to come after you more. ”

A State Department official said that people are confused. “On the one hand, employees want to showcase the important work they’re doing, ” but there is concern about “responding from individual email accounts and not knowing where the information is going, ” the official said. “I suspect all federal employees everywhere feel conflicted and deeply disturbed by the derogatory narrative coming from our government. ”

In his Oval Office remarks on Monday, Trump suggested that employees who didn’t reply might not be working at all. “We have to find out where these people are. Who are they? , ” Trump said in the Oval Office while meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. “And we said, ‘If you don’t respond, we assume you’re not around, and you’re not getting paid anymore, too. ’”

Musk, however, was undeterred. On Monday evening, he posted on X, “Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination. ”

Federal Workers in Chaos: Musk's Email Stir

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