Trump administration backs off Musk's 5 things threat
Source: Politico
02/24/2025 01:01 PM EST
Updated: 02/24/2025 02:26 PM EST
The Trump administration, ahead of a Monday evening deadline, is backing off Elon Musk’s weekend mandate that all federal employees submit five things they accomplished in the last week or face dismissal.
An administration official, granted anonymity to share details about the White House’s thinking, said Monday morning that federal employees should defer to their agencies on how to respond to a government-wide email from the Office of Personnel Management on Saturday. The heads of national security-related agencies have told employees not to respond, while many other agencies are instructing their workers to comply, according to several emails obtained by POLITICO.
The wiggle room the Trump administration is giving departments in responding to the OPM mandate puts some daylight between the White House and Musk, whose rapid-fire effort to reshape the federal government has upended Washington and who has at times appeared to get ahead of the president.
The official described the OPM email as “top-line” guidance from the federal government and said it was anticipated that agencies would send out their own guidance on how to comply with it. It was a point the president himself underscored, speaking with reporters Monday afternoon, as he dismissed the idea that Cabinet secretaries telling their employees not to respond was a sign of tension with Musk.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/24/trump-back-off-musk-five-things-threat-00205743
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