Elon Musk, in his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), recently made headlines by sending a controversial email to all federal employees, demanding they justify their roles by listing five accomplishments from the previous week. This bold move aimed to streamline government operations and enforce accountability aligns with President Trump’s vision of a more efficient government. The email stated that failing to respond would be considered a resignation, escalating tensions within various government departments.

Musk has firmly defended this demand, offering further explanation behind the email that has sparked a fierce debate. The billionaire CEO, who now leads DOGE under President Trump, sent an ultimatum to all federal employees, requiring them to submit a list of five accomplishments from the past week or face termination.

This move followed a post from President Trump on Truth Social, where he praised Musk’s work but suggested he could be more aggressive. “ELON IS DOING A GREAT JOB, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET MORE AGGRESSIVE. REMEMBER, WE HAVE A COUNTRY TO SAVE, BUT ULTIMATELY, TO MAKE GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE. MAGA,” Trump wrote on February 22.

In response, Musk took to X to explain how he planned to follow through on the president’s request. “Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk wrote. He added, “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”

The stakes were raised further when Musk warned that any federal worker who failed to submit their accomplishments by 11:59 PM would “soon be furthering their career elsewhere.” Despite the criticism, Musk has stood by his decision, addressing a comment from an X user who suggested the email was meant to identify those part of a “leftist resistance.” Musk responded, “It was to see who had a pulse and two working neurons.”

Since Musk’s directive, DOGE has already made waves in the government, firing over 20,000 federal workers and freezing billions in grants and foreign aid. However, several agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Education, Commerce, and Energy, have instructed their staff to ignore Musk’s order.

Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s new spy chief, followed suit, telling intelligence officers not to respond. “Given the inherently sensitive and classified nature of our work, [intelligence community] employees should not respond to the OPM email,” she stated, echoing FBI Director Kash Patel’s directive to ignore the request.

Musk, unperturbed by the resistance, insisted that the email was simply a “very basic pulse check.” As officials debate DOGE’s authority, Trump has shown full support for Musk’s bold approach, even sharing a satirical SpongeBob SquarePants meme on Truth Social that mocked federal workers upset by the order. The meme shows SpongeBob holding a notepad while Patrick Star presents a list titled “Got Done Last Week,” with humorous content that underscores the point.