DOJ Tells Staff Not to Reply to Musk Job Details Order
Supervisors at the U.S. Department of Justice have advised employees not to respond immediately to a federal directive requiring them to summarize recent work accomplishments—a mandate linked to Elon Musk that DOJ staff worry could lead to ethical concerns.
According to five individuals familiar with the matter, at least five DOJ office heads quickly replied to the HR directive—an initiative from Musk’s government efficiency team—by instructing their teams to withhold detailed responses until further clarification was provided.
Two individuals from separate U.S. attorneys’ offices noted that colleagues were informed the support office overseeing all 93 U.S. attorneys was actively seeking guidance from DOJ leadership on how to comply—or even whether the email was legitimate, as reported by Bloomberg Law.
Federal employees were given a two-day deadline by the government’s human resources office on Saturday to submit five bullet points summarizing their work from the previous week. Within an hour, DOJ leadership sought to reassure staff, according to sources who spoke under anonymity to discuss internal matters.
Reports indicate that DOJ attorneys are particularly concerned that revealing details of grand jury investigations—especially non-public evidence—could constitute ethical violations in their legal practice.
When questioned about the instructions from DOJ office leaders, a department spokesperson countered, stating, “The opposite is true—DOJ has sent guidance that employees should respond.”
Sources told Bloomberg that while DOJ staff had yet to receive further updates from supervisors, “guidance was sent to component heads urging compliance.”
Musk posted on social media Saturday, stating, “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
One notable exception to the hesitancy came from Ed Martin, a staunch Trump supporter leading the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington. Martin authorized his employees to comply.
“DOGE and Elon are doing great work! History. We are happy to be participate,” Martin wrote in an office-wide email, which he later shared on X. “Please respond to the HR email carefully with regard to confidentiality and our duties. Be general if you need to. If anyone gives you problems, I’ve got your back. You’re good.”
A message from the Office of Personnel Management on Saturday afternoon cautioned federal workers against sharing “classified information, links, or attachments.”
Musk’s DOGE was already in the headlines earlier this week following another striking revelation.
The U.S. Department of Government Efficiency discovered that the Biden-Harris administration had allocated hundreds of millions of dollars in government contracts to an unexpected group: children.
An agency report disclosed that the Small Business Administration distributed $312 million to companies allegedly owned by individuals under the age of 11.
This revelation comes as DOGE intensifies efforts to identify and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in federal expenditures.
“While it is possible to have business arrangements where this is legal, that is highly unlikely for these 5,593 loans, as they all also used an SSN with the incorrect name,” the agency stated. “@DOGE and @SBAgov are working together to solve this problem this week.”
Additionally, DOGE disclosed that another $333 million was distributed between 2021 and 2022 in 3,095 loans to businesses purportedly owned by individuals aged 115 or older.
One particularly striking case, highlighted by Fox News, involved a 157-year-old business owner who received a total of $36,000 in grants, including funds from the pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan initiative, both designed to help businesses endure economic shutdowns.
For businesses allegedly owned by minors, the Biden administration approved nearly 5,600 such loans between 2020 and 2021—most of which were forgiven without repayment after owners pledged the funds would be used to prevent staff layoffs.
Despite these revelations, public confidence in DOGE remains strong. Recent polls indicate that 72% of Americans support its mission, and Trump has even proposed that “DOGE dividends” from recovered funds could be returned to taxpayers.
In a significant legal victory for the Trump administration, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts ruled in favor of DOGE last week, upholding its freeze on $2 billion in contractor payments from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).