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Senator Tina Smith labeled Elon Musk a “d***” after the Department of Government Efficiency leader announced he’s requiring every federal employee to defend their roles in a five-bullet-point email or lose their jobs.
“This is the ultimate dick boss move from Musk – except he isn’t even the boss, he’s just a dick,” the Minnesota Democrat said, attaching a screenshot of Musk’s email announcement.
“I bet a lot of people have had an experience like this with a bad boss – there’s an email in your inbox on Saturday night saying, ‘Prove to me your worthiness by Monday or else,’” Smith continued. “I’m on the side of the workers, not the billionaire a******* bosses.”
Musk announced Saturday night that every federal employee will receive an email asking what they accomplished this week — and that those who fail to respond will be considered as having resigned. Employees at several agencies have already received the email, which requires them to respond by Monday at 11:59 p.m. ET.
It appears the email may not be entirely legal — University of Minnesota law professor Nick Bednar told The Washington Post that considering those who don’t respond as having resigned is illegal.
Senator Patty Murray joined Smith in calling Musk out, posting a video of a speech she gave on the Senate floor.
“Spending isn’t a “conspiracy” just because Musk doesn’t know how to read //usaspending.gov,” Murray wrote on X. “A program isn’t waste just because it doesn’t help the richest man in the world. It isn’t fraud because he doesn’t like it. A law is not illegal just because he disagrees with it.”
Musk re-posted it, responding: “What did you get done this week?”
Several agencies have also assured employees they’re not responsible for responding. The Department of Defense told employees to “pause any response” to Musk’s email, while newly-confirmed FBI Director Kash Patel gave his employees the same directive.
But Musk has defended the email, calling it “a very basic pulse check” and a “trivial task.”
An Office of Personnel Management spokesperson previously told The Independent that “agencies will determine next steps” after employees respond.
Musk famously asked the same question of former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal (whom he later fired) while scheming to buy the social media site in 2022.
“I’d like the company to get to a place where we are more resilient and don’t get distracted, but we aren’t there right now,” Agrawal told Musk.
“What did you get done this week?” Musk fired back.
Trump also praised Musk’s efforts on Truth Social this weekend, encouraging him to go even further: “ELON IS DOING A GREAT JOB, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET MORE AGGRESSIVE.”
Read More: Senator calls Musk a ‘d***’ after he asked federal workers to defend their jobs
