A second email instructing U.S. federal workers to justify their jobs was sent on Friday as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to cut government spending, media reports say.
The latest message came a week after billionaire Elon Musk, appointed by Trump to oversee downsizing efforts, initiated the first mass email to the federal workforce. That initial email ordered nearly two million government employees to justify their roles or risk termination, causing confusion and concern among federal agencies.
The second email, reportedly sent from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), once again asked staff to provide a list of their weekly accomplishments. Unlike the first, it specified that employees must submit their reports every Monday going forward.
According to The New York Times, NPR, and CBS News, the email bore the subject line “What did you do last week? Part II” and was sent to workers across multiple agencies, including the FBI, the Treasury Department, and the Department of Homeland Security.
Musk, whom Trump appointed to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has not commented on X about the latest round of emails. However, he previously described the first email as a test to see if federal employees were capable of responding.
CBS reported that this time, OPM had delegated the responsibility of sending the email to individual agencies, allowing each department to decide whether to comply.
Trump, posting on his platform Truth Social, praised Musk for “doing a great job” but urged him to “get more aggressive” in streamlining the federal workforce.
