A poster at a Capitol Hill news conference earlier this month illustates how Democrats feel about billionaire Elon Musk and his efforts to cut federal government. That was back in the spotlight this weekend with his demand that federal workers report on their recent achievements or face dismissal. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
Federal workers appeared to dodge a bullet Monday when they were told they would not face dismissal for failing to respond to Elon Musk’s demand for a report by midnight on their recent performance.
But that advice, which came days after Musk’s original demand, was cited by critics as just more evidence of Trump administration “chaos” and its “bullying” of federal workers as it tries to slash the federal workforce.
“I just think it’s another example of what an amateur hour this has been on the part of the Trump administration,” said Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-4th). “They’re not coordinated … they don’t appear to know what the law is, and they don’t seem to care at some level, either.”
Musk announced in a social media post Saturday that federal workers would be getting an email calling on them to send a message to the Office of Personnel Management detailing five things they accomplished in the prior week.
Musk’s post said that failure to respond would be “taken as a resignation,” though that threat was absent from the OPM email that was eventually sent to employees.
Reuters reported Monday afternoon that OPM had informed agencies that staff were not obliged to respond, and that a nonresponse would not be considered an act of resignation.
But that only came after days of widespread confusion, with various federal agencies giving their employees different guidance.
Several agencies related to defense and intelligence told their employees not to respond to the email. Notably, just days after being confirmed, FBI Director Kash Patel told his agency to hold off on responding, according to press reports, while workers at other agencies, such as the Department of Transportation, were directed to respond to the email.
Amid the conflicting guidance, the American Federation of Government Employees called the email ultimatum “bullying” and “improper,” but advised federal workers to “comply with any directive that has come from your agency.”
Ivey said that Musk’s ultimatum is an example of a disorganized effort from Trump and Musk to push people out of federal jobs. That was echoed by Del. David Moon (D-Montgomery), who said the confusion and apparent contradictions from within the Trump administration are proof of a lack of a plan other than to “cull the workforce.”
“I think the confusion and the reasons for it are an afterthought,” Moon said. “The end goal is very clear.”
Moon said legislators are looking into ways to mitigate the damage of any job cuts to Maryland, where more than 160,000 people are federal employees. One such measure is a bill that would authorize the use of funds in the Catastrophic Event Account to assist in costs related to mass layoffs in the federal government.
While Democrats sound the alarm bell, the sentiment of some Republicans in the State House is more complex. House Minority Leader Jason Buckel (R-Allegany) said that cutting the federal workforce is painful, but necessary.
“There’s going to have to be a retrenchment of a lot of federal government positions,” Buckel said. “I don’t revel in that.”
But Buckel also said that, while he sees laying off workers as a necessary, he doesn’t fully agree with the way the process is being carried out.
“Could we take a few more months and be more particularized about it? Can we pass a budget, perhaps, that sets top line numbers and says… you’re going to have to make targeted cuts in certain programs?” Buckel said. “If I was king for a day, that’s the way I would do it.”
Buckel, though, added, “the end objective probably will remain the same.”