| Submit your comments on this article |
| Government Corruption |
| Trump Backs Elon Musk's Email, Indicates It's a Probe to See Who Is Working |
| 2025-02-25 |
| [Breitbart] President Donald Trump on Monday endorsed an email sent by Elon Musk via the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to federal workers on Friday afternoon asking them to reply with five bullets of what they accomplished last week. “I thought it was great because we have people that don’t show up to work, and nobody even knows if they work for the government. So by asking the question, ‘Tell us what you did this week?’ What he’s doing is saying, ‘Are you actually working?’ And then, if you don’t answer, like you’re sort of semi-fired, or you’re fired because a lot of people are not answering because they don’t even exist,” Trump said during a press conference. He added: “So I think it was actually — there was a lot of genius in sending it. We’re trying to find out if people are working, and so we’re sending a letter to people, ‘Please tell us what you did last week.’ If people don’t respond, it’s very possible that there is no such person or they’re not working.” However, confusion about whether to respond to the email was still abounding as the deadline of Monday 11:59 p.m. ET approached. The email also prompted confusion after some supervisors at some agencies, including at the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Health and Human Services, told their employees not to respond immediately to the email. There was even more confusion after some top officials at some agencies told employees not to respond. For example, State Department Acting Undersecretary for Management Tibor Nagy told employees in a statement they were not obligated to respond. Later, FBI Director Kash Patel also told employees in a statement to “please pause any responses.” Then, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Darin Selnick told employees similarly to “please pause any response.” On Monday morning, some agencies — such as the Department of Veterans Affairs — told employees the email was “valid.” Asked about “a disconnect in communications,” Trump said, “No, no, no. And that was done in a friendly manner, only things such as perhaps Marco at State Department, where they have very confidential things, or the FBI, where they’re working on confidential things. And they don’t mean that in any way combatively with Elon. They’re just saying there are some people that you don’t want to really have them tell you what they’re working on last week. But other than that, I think everyone thought it was a pretty ingenious idea.” He again endorsed the email, “We have to find out where these people are, who are they? And we said, If you don’t respond, we assume you’re not around and you’re not getting paid anymore, too. So, you know, we’re doing a real job. And we just had a poll come out, I guess, the Harvard poll saying that it’s massively popular what we’re doing.” Top federal agency takes DOGE's mission to heart with all-hands memo to every employee: 'Reduction in force' As the Trump administration’s DOGE efforts continue to have an impact across government agencies, over 12,000 employees at the General Services Administration are being notified in an agency-wide email Monday evening that a "reduction in force" is underway. In the memo from acting GSA administrator Stephen Ehikian, according to a draft obtained by Fox News Digital, the agency thanked those employees who decided to be part of the "first step" of staff reduction on Friday by resigning from GSA and previewed the "next step of this process in support of the Presidential Executive Order: Implementing The President's Department of Government Efficiency Workforce Optimization Initiative, The White House, dated February 11, 2025." "This serves as notice that the agency will be conducting a Reduction in Force (RIF) and is seeking approval from Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to also obtain a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA)," the email states. "More information to impacted business units and employees will be forthcoming." The letter ends by thanking the employees that will be affected for their "service to this nation." "I promise you that GSA will continue to do everything in our power to make your departure fair and dignified," the letter concludes. Fox News Digital was told by a source familiar with the situation that 30-40 employees will be affected by the reduction at first, as the agency starts with a focused number meant to ensure the plan is executed well with minimal mistakes. The GSA, which performs a variety of tasks including managing federal real estate and procuring goods and services, is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has 11 regional offices. A GSA senior manager familiar with the process told Fox News Digital that the first actions will be targeted on select offices rather than the entire agency and that bargaining unit employees are not anticipated to be affected. Additionally, the agency is looking for an additional Voluntary Early Retirement Authority, as outlined by the OPM, and will be offering severance or discontinued services annuities as appropriate. Related: General Services Administration: 2025-02-24 Trump looking to sell off Nancy Pelosi Federal Building in San Francisco: reports General Services Administration: 2025-02-10 Trump hits the golf course in Florida as official hints at sneaky way Elon Musk could be hoping to persuade federal workers to quit General Services Administration: 2025-02-05 Unions sue Trump administration over ‘arbitrary and capricious' federal employee buyout offers, Rattled Dems urge fed workers to reject buyout as 20K accept Related: Office of Personnel Management: 2025-02-24 DOD tells civilian workforce to ignore Elon Musk's request to report productivity Office of Personnel Management: 2025-02-19 Obama-Appointed Judge Halts Democrat Attempts to Stop DOGE Review of Federal Agencies Office of Personnel Management: 2025-02-13 Federal judge allows Trump to push forward with buyouts for government workers |
| Posted by:Skidmark |