A federal worker who was asked to list five things she accomplished last week as part of a new DOGE initiative to root out lazy employees has explained why it should be celebrated.
The woman, who claims to be employed by the Department of Health and Human Services, newly helmed by Robert F. Kennedy, said her colleagues should treat the request as an opportunity for acknowledgment and potential promotions.
‘I got the email and I honestly feel like this is a great opportunity to outline what you as an employee bring to the company,’ the Miami-based employee told Charlamagne Tha God during Tueday’s The Breakfast Club segment.
‘If it’s really good what you outline they can give you an opportunity to get a promotion or something,’ she added.
The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said such a request would be normal at any other job.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency sent a government agency-wide email on Saturday asking employees to list five tasks they’d completed at work the week prior.
He then made a post on X warning the 2.3million workers who received it that a failure to reply would be taken as a resignation.
The request sparked outrage from employees who said it was an overreach and prompted some MAGA-appointed department heads to instruct staff to ignore it.
President Trump later insisted that the email should be responded to, describing it as an ‘ingenious’ idea.
‘God forbid they ask you what you’ve done. Any other job, they’ll ask you at the end of the week, at the end of the month,’ the caller said.
The woman also accused her colleagues of using a device which can mimic mouse movements in an effort to get around internal systems that can monitor whether work is getting done remotely.
‘People are actually buying it and using it and not working. And this is our taxpayers’ money, and you have to work,’ she said.
‘You don’t like it, get another job… It’s this Democratic thing. It’s like… they don’t want to go to work. They want to work from home. People are not working from home.’
Earlier on Wednesday Trump revealed there were still upwards of one million employees who were yet to reply to Musk’s request, despite generous time extensions.
During his first Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Trump said DOGE is seeking to find out why these federal employees did not answer Musk’s email.
‘Maybe they’re going to be gone, maybe they’re not around, maybe they have other jobs, maybe they moved and they’re not where they’re supposed to be,’ Trump speculated. ‘A lot of things could have happened.’
‘Right now we’re trying to find out who those people are that haven’t responded.’
But in general, Trump put those 1 million workers on notice that they are ‘on the bubble’ – a sports phrase the president is using as a euphemism for their jobs being on the line.
Musk, who was also at the meeting, said any federal employee who is doing essential work should not fear for their positions.
‘We wish to keep everyone who is doing a job that is essential and doing that job well,’ the Tesla and SpaceX boss said.
‘But if the job is not essential or they’re not doing the job well, they obviously should not be on the public payroll.’