Trump to hold first cabinet meeting; Elon Musk to attend
Trump backs demand for federal workers to detail work in email
Elon Musk is doubling down on his demand for federal workers to reply to an email asking them to specify what they accomplished on the job last week. At the same time, nearly two dozen federal employees who’ve been working for his DOGE team announced their collective resignation, saying they refuse to use their technical expertise to "dismantle critical public services."
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's first cabinet meeting is set for Wednesday, and tech billionaire Elon Musk will be in attendance, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
What is Elon Musk doing for Trump?
Big picture view:
Elon Musk is not a member of Trump's cabinet.
Leavitt told reporters Tuesday that Musk would be in attendance to "talk about DOGE’s efforts and how all of the Cabinet secretaries are identifying waste, fraud and abuse in their respective agencies."
White House Press Briefing: Border Security updates
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt delivers the White House Press Briefing to discuss the emails DOGE sent out to federal workers asking for an update list of what was accomplished and looking at the first month of President Trump's border security.
Musk is leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – but is technically not a part of the department itself, according to a court filing from Joshua Fisher, director of the White House Office of Administration. Instead, Musk is an employee of the "White House Office" and is serving as a "Senior Advisor to the President."
Elon Musk's email to federal employees
Local perspective:
Elon Musk tweeted on Saturday that all federal employees will be asked to report "what they got done last week," and that failure to reply would be considered a resignation.
Shortly afterward, federal employees received a three-line email telling them to share "approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager."
The deadline to reply was listed as 11:59 p.m. EST on Monday.
Musk added to X on Monday evening that, "subject to the discretion of the President, (federal employees) will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination."
Trump supports Musk amid federal workforce turmoil
President Donald Trump endorsed Elon Musk's ultimatum for federal employees to outline their recent accomplishments by the end of Monday or face termination, despite government agency officials informing employees that compliance with Musk's demand was voluntary.
"The email request was utterly trivial, as the standard for passing the test was to type some words and press send!" he wrote in a separate post. "Yet so many failed even that inane test, urged on in some cases by their managers. Have you ever witnessed such INCOMPETENCE and CONTEMPT for how YOUR TAXES are being spent?"
The White House told Fox News Digital that individual federal agencies are in control as to what actions will be taken against government employees who did not respond to an Office of Personnel Management email asking for a bullet-point list of what they accomplished during the previous work week.
"Agencies should consider any appropriate actions regarding employees who fail to respond to activity," a White House official told Fox News Digital Tuesday. "It is agency leadership’s decision as to what actions are taken."
Federal workers sue over 'what you accomplished' email from Musk
A lawsuit has been filed against Elon Musk’s email threat to federal employees that was relayed over the weekend. Attorneys for federal workers say in a lawsuit that Musk violated the law with his weekend demand that employees explain their accomplishments or risk being fired.
A lawsuit filed Monday is trying to block mass layoffs that could go into effect this week in connection with the email distributed by the Office of Personnel Management on Saturday on behalf of Musk and Trump.
Attorneys for federal workers say in a lawsuit that Musk violated the law with his weekend demand that employees explain their accomplishments or risk being fired.
READ MORE: Congresswoman Crockett to Elon Musk: 'F*** Off'
The Source: This story contains information from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, a court filing from the White House, as well as previous reporting from FOX 5 DC and FOX News Digital.