Musk handed federal workers a 'good opportunity for mass civil disobedience': Dem lawmaker

A mass email to federal workers that was initiated by billionaire Elon Musk, demanding they detail five tasks they completed in their jobs last week with a threat they will lose their jobs if they don't reply, has set the stage for a revolt.

That is the opinion of one Democratic lawmaker who was just as outraged as the unions representing the workers.

At issue was Musk's post on X where he wrote, "Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation."

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That email from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) was sent " broadly across the government. Employees in the State Department, the National Institute of Health, the General Services Administration, Veteran Affairs, the Food and Drug Administration and other agencies all received a copy," Politico is reporting.

That in turn has led to massive push back as well as accusations that the demand may not be legal.

According to Politco's report, attorney Michael Fallings, who specializes in federal employment law claimed, "I don’t believe it would be legal, and I don’t think he really understands right now how he will even do what he’s threatened to do."

While Fallings suggested that affected employees should first speak with their supervisors before responding prior to the Monday deadline, Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) suggested the DOGE head may regret making the demand.

Linking to Musk's post, he wrote, "This is a good opportunity for mass civil disobedience. Musk has no authority to do this. Encourage all federal employees to report to work, prepare GFY letters and continue to demonstrate the public service and patriotism he lacks."

On Bluesky, Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) was blunter in her assessment of Musk, writing, "This is the ultimate d–ck boss move from Musk - except he isn’t even the boss, he’s just a d–ck."

She then added, "I bet a lot of people have had an experience like this with a bad boss - there’s an email in your inbox on Saturday night saying, 'Prove to me your worthiness by Monday or else.' I’m on the side of the workers, not the billionaire a--hole bosses."

You can read more from Politico here.