Elon Musk reveals reason why all federal workers just received an email with an ultimatum

Elon Musk has revealed why he sent all federal workers an email with an ultimatum over the weekend in a move critics said was 'silly'.

Musk, who runs the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) task force that is on a mission to cut government costs, sent federal staff a rather unusual email on Saturday (February 22) with an ultimatum that suggested workers who fail to respond wouldn't have a job to return to.

Musk's email demanded federal staffers list five tasks they completed in the last week by 11.59pm on Monday - or resign, which sent the workforce into a panic over the weekend.

Writing on Twitter, he said workers were expected to share 'what they got done last week' and failure to respond 'will be taken as resignation.'

The government's HR agency, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) confirmed the email was legitimate in a statement to CBS.

According to the BBC, employees were asked to list their accomplishments in five bullet points and one Pentagon official reportedly told CNN it was 'the silliest thing I've seen in 40 years and completely usurps the chain of command.'

Some key US departments also reportedly instructed staff not to comply with Musk's demands, but the Tesla founder and SpaceX CEO said on Twitter he had already received a 'large number of good responses' as of Sunday (February 23), adding: "These are the people who should be considered for promotion."

Musk has revealed the real reason why he sent the email on Saturday (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The action came as president Donald Trump ordered Musk, dubbed his 'First Buddy', to 'get more aggressive' last week.

Now, the billionaire tech mogul has lifted the lid on the real reason why he sent the controversial demanding email.

Musk said on Twitter he sent the command to 'see who had a pulse and two working neurons.'

He also claimed government workers don't even check their emails, implying that the task was more about who was checking in and bothered to reply rather than the contents of their response.

Musk wrote: "This was basically a check to see if the employee had a pulse and was capable of replying to an email.

"Lot of people in for a rude awakening and strong dose of reality. They don't get it yet, but they will," Musk concluded.

FBI Director Kash Patel told his team not to reply (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Yet, several department leaders advised their staff not to obey the order, with newly appointed FBI boss Kash Patel telling his team to hang fire as well as intelligence chief, Tulsi Gabbard, instructing staff to ignore it.

Patel's message read: "FBI personnel may have received an email from OMP requesting information,. The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all our review processes, and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures."

"For now, please pause any responses," his email concluded.

Meanwhile, Gabbard said to staff: "Given the inherently sensitive and classified nature of our work, I.C. employees should not respond to the OPM email."

Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, also advised staff to disregard Musk's email (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Department of Homeland Security Chief Kristi Noem also told their teams to disregard the email, reports The Daily Mail.

However, Musk said anyone who shares the attitude of the Pentagon insider 'needs to look for a new job.'

DOGE claims it has spared $55 billion from the budget through cost-cutting initiatives so far, like canceling contracts and leases, selling assets and detecting fraud across governmental departments from education, personnel management and health and human services to agriculture and international development.