Elon Musk deadline: You might not get a promotion this time if you haven't responded yet

Hours after issuing a 48-hour deadline to thousands of federal employees in the US, Elon Musk has dropped another bombshell. Taking to his social platform, X, Musk announced that those who submitted their responses early would be considered for promotions.

"A large number of good responses have been received already. These are the people who should be considered for promotion," Musk wrote on X.

Earlier on Saturday, the US tech billionaire ordered all federal employees to report on their work progress from the past week, warning that failure to respond would be considered a 'resignation'.


The email, sent from the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) new HR address, lacked a signature. The subject line read: "What did you do last week?"



"Please reply to this email with approximately five bullet points outlining what you accomplished last week and CC your manager. Please do not send any classified information, links, or attachments," the email stated, as cited by CNN.

Musk had previously justified the move in a post on X, saying: "Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump's instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation."

This directive came just hours after US President Donald Trump praised Musk’s work while urging him to be more "aggressive."

"ELON IS DOING A GREAT JOB, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET MORE AGGRESSIVE. REMEMBER, WE HAVE A COUNTRY TO SAVE, BUT ULTIMATELY, TO MAKE GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE. MAGA!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Pushback from other agencies

However, several national security agencies, including the FBI, along with multiple other federal departments, advised staff not to respond immediately, suggesting that the executive branch was neither informed of nor prepared for the demand.

According to CNN, the email itself did not mention resignation for non-compliance, contradicting Musk’s social media post. It simply set a submission deadline of Monday at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Notably, FBI Director Kash Patel instructed bureau employees to refrain from responding immediately.

In an email obtained by CNN, Patel stated: "The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all of our review processes and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures. When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses."

Following Musk's directive on Saturday, Trump called the X owner a "patriot" and commended him for "doing a great job" while speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference.