FBI Director Kash Patel instructed employees to refrain from responding to an email sent at the direction of tech billionaire Elon Musk, which requested federal workers to list their accomplishments from the previous week. In a memo obtained by NewsNation, Patel clarified that the FBI, through the Office of the Director, would manage future inquiries from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). He emphasized that FBI reviews would follow established procedures and directed staff to pause any responses for now.

The email, sent by Musk as part of efforts to downsize the federal government, threatened that failure to respond would be considered a resignation. It asked federal employees to detail their weekly accomplishments in five bullet points.

Similar instructions were issued by the State Department, which also advised employees to respond through their department’s chain of command.