DOGE Protester Said It Is ‘Frightening’ to Respond to Email Explaining What You Accomplished at Work

A Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) protester, speaking on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, said it is “frightening” for federal workers to be expected to respond to an email explaining what they accomplished at work.

“What do you wake up or when you’re on your weekend and you get the fork in the road message, or you get the subsequent five bullets, ‘Hey, what the hell did you do, you lazy federal worker, this week?'” the masked woman yelled.

“How frightening is it that someone on X, the owner of X speaks to you directly to say, what did you do last week at work? And if you don’t answer, I am going to fire you. But even more egregious, the President comes out, the most powerful person in the land endorses that message. How you think that makes federal workers feel?” she asked.

Her remarks follow a lengthy back and forth over emails sent to federal employees, asking them to list their accomplishments for the week.

“Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), wrote in a post on X on February 22. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”

According to reports, about one million federal employees — less than half — responded to the first email. Federal employees received a second email the following week, asking them to list out the five bullet points of what they have accomplished.

“Going forward, please complete the above task each week by Mondays at 11:59pm ET,” the email reportedly read.

“Please do not send links, attachments, or any classified/sensitive information. If all of your activities are classified or sensitive, please write ‘All of my activities are sensitive,'” the email added.

WATCH — Trump Mocks Democrats for DOGE Derangement Syndrome at Congress Address:

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has since noted the emails are voluntary but added that “the consequences for failure to provide the requested information will vary depending on the particular email at issue”:

U.S. District Judge William Alsup found that the Office of Personnel Management likely violated the law by failing to comply with notice and comment rulemaking in issuing memos. The judge also found agencies improperly fired probationary employees. Alsup was appointed by President Bill Clinton.

In a privacy assessment first published Feb. 5 in response to the lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s implementation of the email system, OPM said responding to any mass email was “explicitly voluntary.”

The orders were muddied further after some agencies directed their employees not to respond. As the Hill reported earlier this month, “The update will no doubt lead to more confusion among federal workers about the emails and whether they must respond.”