Elon Musk-led department of government efficiency ( DOGE ) plans to analyze responses from federal employees who were given email-related instructions to justify their employment. According to sources who were quoted by NBC News, the AI structure will decide whether their job is deemed necessary.
The digital billionaire’s plan is a part of a larger effort to reduce federal spending, eliminate dormant staff, and implement job cuts, supposedly to “fire” those who don’t respond within the deadline. Federal workers were instructed to internet five accomplishments from the previous year, with failure to do so causing departure.
AI to choose mission-critical functions
The US Office of Personnel Management ( OPM) sent the responses over the weekend via email, and they will be incorporated into a Large Language Model ( LLM). This sophisticated AI program will analyze the data and determine whether a particular function is required for an employee.
Federal employees received the message on Saturday, shortly after Musk posted on X that” all federal workers will soon receive an email requesting to know what they got done next week.” Failure to respond may be taken as a withdrawal”.
The OPM information itself, but, did not mention departure. Rather, it directed employees to respond with “approximately five shots of what you accomplished past month” and to replicate their manager. People were instructed not to include classified information, references, or attachments —something options say was needed to help AI control.
Next email warning
The justice ministry made it clear to its employees on Monday that responding to the internet was deliberate. Contrary to Musk’s initial article, an internal email stated that OPM clarified that no responding to the demand would not be regarded as a resignation during a conference with the Chief Human Capital Officers Council.
Despite this, Musk doubled down on his condemnation of national workers on X, writing:
The message request was wholly trifling, as typing some words and pressing send would be the only way to pass the test. But so many of them, in some cases, were urged on by their supervisors, didn’t even pass that pointless test. Have you ever witnessed like DISCOVERTY and CONTEMPORATION with how This Fees are being spent?
Afterward, he suggested that workers who failed to respond may get a second message, warning:
” Theme to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance. Failure to respond a next time will result in cancellation”.
Trump describes the strategy as “generic.”
Donald Trump, the president of the US, praised the initiative on Monday, calling it a “great” proceed at a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Nobody yet knows if they work for the government, and we have people who don’t show up to work. But by asking the question ‘ tell us what you did this fortnight,’ what he’s doing is saying are you really working”, Trump said.
He claimed that many people didn’t respond because” they don’t even arise.”
” Against the law,” you say?
The shift has sparked legal issues. A partnership of organisations and advocacy groups, now fighting the government’s large-scale layoffs of temporary workers, has amended its complaint against OPM. The lawsuit contends that the order may be blocked because it was issued inadvertently.
Lawyer Norm Eisen, representing the claimants, criticised the plan:” The large firings ordered by OPM are illegal and abandon the respect of numerous governmental employees. The patronizing demand that national employees who are still employed must simply justify themselves by enumerating five accomplishments only adds insult to injury. That is also against the law.
Some federal agencies, including those led by Trump supporters, have advised workers to reject the order.
Assistant attorney general for Administration Jolene Ann Lauria sent an inner information to people at the justice ministry, warning them that they did not have to do so because of the” personal and sensitive character” of the work of the agency.
” If you have already responded to this message, no more action is needed”, Lauria’s message said.
