USDA Tells Staff No Penalty for Ignoring Musk Work Request (1)

Feb. 24, 2025, 7:37 PM UTCUpdated: Feb. 24, 2025, 9:18 PM UTC

The Agriculture Department informed employees Monday that responding to a government-wide email seeking information about what they accomplished in the previous week is “voluntary and not required.”

There will be no penalties for ignoring the Saturday email, according to a separate email from the USDA’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration shared with Bloomberg Government by two agency employees who requested anonymity to protect their employment.

USDA confirmed the email’s authenticity following initial publication of this article.

The unsigned guidance follows two days of internal confusion about whether to engage with the weekend email sent by the Office of ...

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