Tulsi Gabbard became the latest Trump official to defy ‘first buddy’ Elon Musk after he emailed federal workers demanding they list and explain five things they accomplished last week.
Trump’s newly-minted intelligence chief joined FBI director Kash Patel and a growing list of department heads who have told their employees to ignore the request from Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Musk’s email ordered workers to reply to the message with five bullets detailing all of their accomplishments at work in the past week and to cc in their manager.
Gabbard, the new Director of National Intelligence, sent a blunt message sent to officials in her department about DOGE’s request.
‘Given the inherently sensitive and classified nature of our work, I.C. employees should not respond to the OPM email,’ read the message from the former Hawaii congresswoman.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Department of Homeland Security Chief Kristi Noem have also told employees to disregard.
Patel made the biggest splash in defying Musk, making it clear that the FBI ‘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,’ he wrote.
Tulsi Gabbard has joined Kash Patel and a growing list of department heads who have said to ignore ‘First Buddy’ Elon Musk ‘s demand that federal workers explain what they accomplished each week
Many Democrats have been outraged by an email Musk sent to workers earlier on Saturday, titled: ‘What did you do last week?’
Patel’s interference is one of his first moves as the new head of the FBI, offering a glimpse at potential rifts within the MAGA world as Musk continues tearing apart the federal government.
When he sent the original email earlier Saturday, Musk also took to his X platform to threaten any employees that do not reply to him with termination.
It remains to be seen if Musk will attempt to make good on his threat to fire any FBI agents that follow Patel’s guidelines, pitting the two Trump insiders against each other. The FBI did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Musk’s email to all federal agents demanding they detail their work weeks to him came after President Trump ordered him to be ‘more aggressive’ with his cost-cutting measures.
‘Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,’ he wrote on X.
‘Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation,’ the Space X founder added.
It is unclear if this threat could be upheld legally or if it violates US labor laws.
Many federal employees are also unionized, which typically provides extra security measures when it comes to termination by forcing the employer to have ‘just cause.’
New FBI chief Kash Patel, pictured with Elon Musk’s baby mama Ashley St. Clair at Trump’s inauguration, defied the billionaire on Saturday as he ordered agents to ignore DOGE’s latest efficiency crackdown
Musk’s email was titled ‘What did you do last week?’
Soon after Musk sent his email, Patel stepped in and ordered his agents at the FBI to ignore Musk’s prompt despite his threat of termination
In addition, many unions have already begun to sue the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the Trump Administration for bulldozing through departments and affecting many federal employees’ jobs.
When Trump and Musk attempted to put 2,200 USAID workers on paid leave, two unions sued and won a temporary restraining order – which has since been reversed.
Judge Carl J. Nichols, who was appointed by Trump in 2019, issued a temporary restraining order on February 7 that blocked the president from placing 2,200 USAID workers on paid leave.
Two unions associated with the agency had filed a last-minute lawsuit in an attempt to save it after Trump argued that the overseas aid agency is not a valuable use of taxpayer money and wanted to dismantle it.
They argue that the government was violating the US Constitution and that USAID workers were suffering harm, but Nichols wrote in a decision on Friday that they hadn’t proved USAID workers would be irreparably harmed.
However, Nichols also noted that that could change in the future as Trump and Musk’s doings play out.
As the purge of many federal jobs continues, Musk said he would look into James Fishback’s X proposal of a ‘DOGE dividend,’ which would give each US household a $5,000 stimulus check out of the money saved through the billionaire’s department.
Musk replied that he was ‘curious’, but said that he ‘will check with the President.’
The standoff between Musk and Patel came after President Trump ordered Musk to be ‘more aggressive’ with his DOGE cost-cutting
DOGE has cut tens of billion dollars from the federal budget in its first month in power, starkly dividing opinions in Washington and across the nation
DOGE has cut tens of billion dollars from the federal budget in its first month in power, starkly dividing opinions in Washington as some praise the cost-cutting measures while others argue the widespread cuts have also impacted needed work.
While some have fumed over some cuts, including firing a number of Department of Energy workers that oversee America’s nuclear arsenal, which Trump quickly reversed, MAGA Republicans say other funding was a huge waste.
In one of the most shocking announcements, DOGE said last week that it has cut at least $1.9 billion of misplaced funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and said that former President Joe Biden’s administration was to blame.
‘These funds were earmarked for the administration of financial services, but were no longer needed,’ DOGE wrote in a post to X, adding that the funds were lost in the first place due to a ‘broken process.’
‘The funds are now available for other use by the Treasury,’ the department said.
This week, DOGE claimed that it has saved $55 billion from the federal budget so far, and shows no signs of slowing down.
DOGE claims the savings were found through a combination of detecting and deleting fraud, canceling contracts and leases, and selling assets.
The savings were mostly made in the US Agency For International Development (USAID), the Department of Education, the Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Agriculture.