It started with a Saturday email that felt more like a tech startup firing spree than a government memo.
In early 2025, a wave of panic hit the federal workforce. The message was blunt: tell us what you did last week in five bullet points. If you don't? Consider it a resignation. That was the ultimatum from Elon Musk, the man leading the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Honestly, it was a moment that felt like it was ripped straight out of the Silicon Valley playbook, but instead of "moving fast and breaking things" at a social media company, it was happening to the United States government.
The DOGE Ultimatum: What Most People Get Wrong
People often think this was just a suggestion or a vague threat. It wasn't. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) actually sent the email with the subject line "What did you do last week?" to over two million employees. Musk backed it up on X (formerly Twitter), stating clearly that failure to respond would be treated as a voluntary resignation.
The goal was basically to find out who was actually working and who was "dead wood."
But here is the catch. The federal government doesn't work like a private company. You can't just tweet someone out of a job that has civil service protections. Within hours, the pushback was massive. Agencies like the State Department and the FBI told their people to sit tight and ignore the request. They argued that employees only report to their own chain of command, not to an outside advisory commission led by a billionaire with a chainsaw.
A Year of Chaos and "The Chainsaw"
Looking back from 2026, we can see how this one move set the tone for the entire first year of the second Trump administration. Musk literally carried a chainsaw on stage at CPAC to symbolize his "Chainsaw for Bureaucracy" approach.
It worked, but maybe not how he intended.
Instead of a clean "resign or report" outcome, it created a massive bottleneck. Imagine millions of emails hitting a handful of OPM servers. Who was going to read them? Who was going to judge if "processed 40 visa applications" was worth a paycheck while "maintained server integrity" wasn't?
- The "Fork in the Road": This was followed by a "deferred resignation" program.
- Voluntary Exits: About 154,000 people took buyouts or just walked away in early 2025.
- The RTO Hammer: Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy pushed for a five-day-a-week return to office, hoping the lack of remote work would make people quit.
Why the "Work or Resign" Demand Still Matters
Even though the White House eventually ended the weekly email initiative in April 2025, the impact is still being felt today. We are now in January 2026, and the federal workforce is about 9% smaller than it was two years ago. That's roughly 212,000 fewer people.
The Defense Department alone lost 60,000 employees.
Critics say this has gutted "state capacity." Basically, that’s a fancy way of saying the government is slower at doing things like processing Social Security checks or inspecting food. Proponents, however, argue that the government was bloated and that the people who left were often the ones who couldn't justify their "five bullets" every week.
The Legal Reality of 2026
The courts have been busy. There are at least nine major lawsuits still winding through the system. Unions like the AFGE (American Federation of Government Employees) have been fighting the "Schedule F" reclassifications—which try to turn career civil servants into at-will employees.
One big win for the workers happened just this month. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the administration has to reveal its secret plans for job cuts. They can't just hide behind "deliberative process" anymore.
How to Navigate the New Federal Landscape
If you're one of the employees still standing, or if you're looking at a government career, the rules have changed. It's not the "job for life" it used to be. Performance management is getting tighter.
They are moving toward "forced distribution" ratings. That means only a certain percentage of people can get a top-tier review. It’s competitive. It’s stressful. And honestly, it’s exactly what Musk wanted—to make the public sector feel more like the private sector.
Actionable Steps for Federal Workers Today:
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- Document Everything: Don't wait for a "What did you do?" email. Keep a weekly log of your wins. If a RIF (Reduction in Force) happens, your performance records and "service computation date" are your only armor.
- Check Your SF-50: Make sure your official worksite is correct. If you're working remote but your paperwork says you're in D.C., you could be flagged for "pay indebtedness" or targeted for a return-to-office order you can't fulfill.
- Know Your Rights: Probationary employees (those in their first two years) have almost no protection right now. If you're in that window, keep your head down and your output high.
- Watch the July 4 Deadline: Trump and Musk set July 4, 2026, as the "conclusion" of DOGE. Expect a final, massive push for cuts as they try to deliver their "gift" to the country for the 250th anniversary.
The era of the invisible bureaucrat is over. Whether you think Musk is a hero or a villain, he’s successfully forced every federal employee to prove their value—or find the exit.