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Federal workers faced fresh uncertainty on Tuesday about their futures after Elon Musk gave them “another chance” to respond to his ultimatum that they justify their jobs or risk termination.
It contradicts guidance from some Trump administration officials that the request was voluntary.
Twenty-one workers resigned from his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in protest, saying in a letter that they refused to cooperate with the downsizing effort.
“We will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardise Americans’ sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services,” the employees wrote in a resignation posted online.
The firings come as DOGE — tasked with saving taxpayers’ money and reducing US national debt — told agency leaders to plan for “large-scale reductions in force”.
The confusing back-and-forth has rippled through the federal bureaucracy, with some agencies such as the US Treasury Department instructing workers to comply, while others such as the Pentagon have not.
It has become a test of how much power Musk wields over the US government’s operations as he pursues an unprecedented cost-cutting campaign with the backing of President Donald Trump.
There was no immediate comment from DOGE on the resignations.
Musk’s email demand
The workers, who include data scientists, product managers, designers and the division head of IT, were employed in an office that was known as the United States Digital Service before Musk over.
Staffers said the firings have undercut efforts to improve tax filing, veterans’ benefits and other critical services.
The resignations added to the drama surrounding Musk’s email demand, which was sent to employees across the government over the weekend asking them to summarise their accomplishments of the past week by Monday.
In a post on X, the social media site Musk owns, he asserted that failure to respond would be considered a resignation.
With the deadline approaching on Monday, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the government’s human resources arm run by Musk aides, told workers they could ignore the email.
Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, was undeterred.
“Subject to the discretion of the president, they will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination,” he wrote on X late on Monday.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Musk’s remarks.
Prior to the new OPM guidance, Trump told reporters on Monday that workers who did not respond would be “sort of semi-fired,” adding to the uncertainty.
Musk’s downsizing initiative has led to the layoff of more than 20,000 workers.
The administration has separately offered buyouts to 75,000 employees.
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