A White House directive requiring federal employees to list their weekly accomplishments has resulted in over one million workers complying with the controversial mandate.
According to Fox News, individual federal agencies will now determine appropriate consequences for government employees who failed to respond to the Office of Personnel Management email requesting bullet-point lists of their weekly work activities.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed during Tuesday's press briefing that more than one million federal workers participated in the directive, which was initiated by Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Chair Elon Musk. The task required employees to send five bullet points detailing their accomplishments from the previous week to their direct supervisors while copying the Office of Personnel Management.
Musk announced the directive on Saturday, giving federal employees until 11:59 p.m. Monday to submit their accomplishments or potentially face termination. The deadline created significant anxiety across government agencies, with some departments explicitly instructing their employees to ignore the request due to the sensitive nature of their work.
The FBI, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security were among those who told staff not to respond to the email because of confidentiality concerns. President Donald Trump characterized these exceptions as "friendly" rejections, explaining that certain departments handle classified information that shouldn't be broadly shared.
On Monday evening, Musk modified his initial stance, posting on his social media platform X that employees who missed the deadline would "be given another chance" at the president's discretion. He added that failing to respond a second time would result in termination.
When questioned about the actual deadline following Musk's social media post about a second chance, Leavitt clarified that agency heads will determine the best approach for their specific workforces.
A White House official told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that "agencies should consider any appropriate actions regarding employees who fail to respond to activity" and that "it is agency leadership's decision as to what actions are taken."
Leavitt described her own experience participating in the directive, stating:
I actually participated in it myself. It took me about a minute and a half to think of five things I did last week. I do five things in about ten minutes, and all federal workers should be working at the same pace that President Trump is working and moving.
President Trump expressed support for the directive on Monday while speaking to media alongside French President Emmanuel Macron. He praised the strategy as having "a lot of genius" and explained its purpose was to identify non-productive government employees.
Several Trump administration officials publicly shared their weekly accomplishments, including Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Small Business Association Administrator Kelly Loeffler, and Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins.
Musk celebrated the initiative on social media after the deadline passed, posting a meme comparing the federal bureaucracy to the Greek warrior Achilles being defeated by a simple "what did you get done last week?" question targeting his vulnerable heel.
The email directive from Elon Musk and the Office of Personnel Management created significant disruption across federal agencies, with over one million employees ultimately submitting their weekly accomplishments by the Monday night deadline. White House officials have now confirmed that individual agency leadership will determine what consequences, if any, will apply to employees who did not respond to the productivity inquiry. The initiative represents a tangible example of the Trump administration's efforts to reform government operations and identify inefficiencies within the federal workforce.
