A month after Elon Musk directed federal employees to submit a weekly email list of five accomplishments from the previous week, the process was interrupted by operational issues.
Musk — who wields a strong hand in the Trump administration and helms the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a pseudo-governmental agency built to slash federal funding — implemented a “5 things” email policy in February.
The tech billionaire ordered all staff to respond within 48 hours; if they didn’t, it would be “taken as a resignation,” he wrote on X.
Two days later, he doubled down, saying that anyone who failed to obey the directive for a second time would be terminated.
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According to Politico, numerous agency leaders told staff they did not need to respond, including FBI Director Kash Patel and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) also said that a response was “voluntary.”
But multiple emails sent to ABC News by federal employees across several agencies have reported receiving bounce-back messages, suggesting the OPM inbox, where they were directed to send their emails, was full.
“After submitting their weekly ‘5 Things’ email on Monday, some employees received an automated response from an OPM email address stating, ‘The recipient’s mailbox is full and can’t accept messages now. Please try resending your message later or contact the recipient directly,’” according to the emails, ABC News wrote.
ABC News also reported that Internal Revenue Service, Social Security Administration, and Department of Health and Human Services workers have experienced the issue.
Following the bounce-backs, some employees were told to resend their emails to an alternative address.
Staff at the Department of Health and Human Services received a memo on Monday stating that it was aware of the issue and advised employees to redirect their emails to another address and copy in their supervisor.
Musk is tasked with reducing the size of federal agencies and has already laid off thousands of workers in the National Park Service, with 10,000 more slated at the Health and Human Services Department, reducing it to about 62,000 employees. According to the New York Times, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are likely to be the hardest hit.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump appear during an executive order signing in the Oval Office at the White House on February 11, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Andrew Harnik / Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump praised Musk’s approach, telling reporters in the Oval Office in late February, “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.”
Despite Musk’s threats of termination, some employees say they have been proven empty.
One federal worker revealed to ABC News that they set a reminder every Monday to send the same ‘5 things’ email each week.
Another staff member said others have mocked the process, writing comments like, “I don’t think anyone is reading these,” in their emails.
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