Trump Backs Musk As He Roils The Federal Workforce With Demands And Threats
HuffPost
President Donald Trump is backing Elon Musk’s demand that federal employees explain their recent accomplishments or risk getting fired.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump backed Elon Musk’s demand that federal employees explain their recent accomplishments by the end of Monday or risk getting fired, even as government agency officials were told that compliance with Musk’s edict was voluntary.
Confusion and anger over the situation spawned new litigation and added to turmoil within the federal workforce.
“What he’s doing is saying, ‘Are you actually working?’” Trump said in the Oval Office during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. “And then, if you don’t answer, like, you’re sort of semi-fired or you’re fired, because a lot of people aren’t answering because they don’t even exist.”
The Republican president said Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has found “hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud” as he suggested that federal paychecks are going to nonexistent employees. He did not present evidence for his claims.
Even as Trump and Musk pressed their case, the Office of Personnel Management informed agency leaders that their workers were not required to respond by the deadline of 11:59 p.m. EST Monday, according to a person with knowledge of the conversation who requested anonymity to discuss internal matters.
