A Republican senator has condemned Elon Musk's directive requiring federal employees to submit weekly work summaries in a controversial email, arguing it disrupts leadership and undermines agency heads.
On Saturday, Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), sent an email to federal employees demanding a five-bullet summary of their weekly work, The Hill reported. Musk warned on social media that failure to comply would be treated as a resignation, sparking confusion and outrage among federal workers, unions and lawmakers.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) later clarified that employees were not required to respond, further fueling the controversy.
Musk's directive drew sharp criticism from both sides of the political spectrum. Republican senators, including said North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis and Maine Sen. Susan Collins, took issue with Musk overstepping agency leadership, while Democrats, such as Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, slammed the move as "callous" and "irresponsible."
"I think it's a distraction," Tillis told The Hill. "You're undermining newly-confirmed leadership by making a request of an agency for which you have no line management responsibility. It's fine in transition, but you've got to start honoring the chain of command or it's disruptive to the person. People are going to wonder, who's their boss?"
Meanwhile, some agency heads, including FBI Director Kash Patel, instructed employees to ignore the email until further guidance was provided.
Despite backlash, Musk defended the request as a "basic pulse check" and conducted an online poll on X, where 70.6% of respondents supported the idea.
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