Federal workers are still sending largely pointless emails detailing the five things they did the previous week, even though the mastermind behind the idea, Elon Musk, has left his government role.
Staff at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Social Security Administration are among those still dutifully submitting the updates Musk demanded under threat of termination for noncompliance, Axios reported.
Musk’s idea arrived as he was making mass cuts and firings as part of his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) mandate. The weekly “accomplishments” emails were widely mocked, and in some agencies, flat-out ignored at the time.
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FBI Director Kash Patel and Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence—agencies that handle classified and sensitive information—were among those who told staff to not to bother sending the updates.
Despite Musk’s departure from his “special government employee” role at the end of May, which followed soon with his spectacular public fallout with President Donald Trump, some federal employees are still sending the weekly emails.
“We’re told to send it every Monday before midnight,” one Social Security employee told Axios. “It takes a while. I have never gotten a response from anyone.”
The White House claimed in February that over 1 million federal workers responded to emails asking them to justify their jobs. The pressure to do so amid threats of being fired now seems to have fizzled out.
One unnamed agency worker said that while NOAA employees are still required to send the weekly roundups, workers at OPM are now merely “encouraged” to do so.
Staff at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—which has been gutted and mostly shut down due to Musk’s DOGE cuts—have stopped sending the emails entirely, despite never being officially told to stop.
“Got tired of saying I hadn’t accomplished anything because we haven’t been given any work,” one CFPB worker said.
In a statement, OPM defended the weekly emails, saying they are “vital to maintain accountability and transparency” in employee contributions.
“The mission of eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse is part of the DNA of the federal government and will continue under the direction of the President, his Cabinet, and agency heads to enhance government efficiency and prioritize responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars,” added White House spokesperson Harrison Fields.
