Judge says federal workers cannot be terminated

Elon Musk shook the federal working world when the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent a letter to all federal workers requiring them to bullet point their achievements or risk being fired.

A federal judge has since ordered the OPM to rescind the mass firings of probationary workers, but Musk is apparently not taking the order to heart.

The First Letter

Musk announced that he had issued a letter to all federal employees on X, stating that the letter was "Consistent with President [Trump's] instructions." He then said, "Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation."

It was later noted that the letter sent to staffers did not include the threat of resignation, which was a sticking point for OPM when the letter was later challenged.

After word of the letter traveled, Musk tried to play down the letter, stating that he was literally just talking the pulse of federal employees to make sure people were not getting checks that were not actually alive. He set the “bar low,” only asking for five bullet points to justify their employment.

Several agency heads pushed back on the letter, including Tulsi Gabbard, Kash Patel, and Marco Rubio.

Judge Blocks Firing Order

In addition to the letter, Trump ordered the OPM to fire all probationary workers. On Thursday, a federal judge blocked that order.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup, a Bill Clinton appointee, ordered all probationary workers back to work. He further stated, “I am going to count on the government to do the right thing and go a little bit further than I have ordered and to let some of these agencies know what I have ruled.”

This is setting Trump up for a huge showdown with Democrats, as this case will likely wind up before the Supreme Court.

We will find out once and for all if the president has the power to downsize the government at will, as well as the power for the OPM.

Musk Sends Second Letter

After a cabinet meeting where Trump invited Musk, even though he is “only” an adviser, Musk has reportedly sent out a new letter.

On Friday, a second letter was issued by the OPM, demanding that all federal workers supply five bullet points outlining their weekly achievements.

They were also informed that moving forward, this report would be expected by the end of day every Monday.

I am already on record that I think Musk is overstepping here, as I believe the auditing of staff should be done by their respective secretaries and directors. This is giving the appearance of a power struggle, even though I don’t think one is actually taking place. Having said that, as I stated in a previous report, if Trump gave Musk the authority to fire employees in my department with an email, I would resign my position if I were a member of the cabinet. I support the idea of monitoring production, but I think Musk is just going about it the wrong way and overstepping his bounds.