Tech mogul Elon Musk, who oversees the Department of Government Efficiency, will be attending President Donald Trump's Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, made the announcement during her briefing Tuesday. Leavitt said Musk will be discussing the work DOGE has been doing and hear from the Cabinet secretaries about how they are identifying waste, fraud, and abuse at their respective agencies.
Ahead of the meeting, more than 20 civil service employees resigned from DOGE, saying they were refusing to use their technical expertise to "dismantle critical public services."
"We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations," the 21 staffers wrote in a joint resignation letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. "However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments."
Over the weekend, an email was sent out by DOGE asking federal employees to list five things they have accomplished in the past week, though many department heads told employees not to answer it.
Musk has said those who don't respond face termination. The Office of Personnel Management pushed back against the directive, notifying agency leaders Monday afternoon that employee participation was not mandatory.
Several agencies, including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, advised employees not to respond to the email.
FBI Director Kash Patel instructed staff Saturday to "pause any responses," noting that the agency would coordinate replies if necessary. "The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of our review processes and will conduct reviews," Patel said in a staff message.
DHS leadership echoed this stance, directing its 250,000-plus employees to disregard the request. Internal documents acknowledged concerns that employees might not recognize their participation was voluntary.
Trump said he supported Musk's email.
"We have people who don't show up to work, and nobody even knows if they work for the government, so by asking the question, 'Tell us what you did this week,' what [Elon's] doing is saying, 'Are you actually working?'" Trump said. "If you don't answer … you're fired."
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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