How Are Agencies Responding?
According to a CNN report, the Pentagon, FBI, State Department, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Energy were among those who have asked their staffers not to comply with the email demand. Granted, other departments are taking the opposite approach, suggesting their workers comply with the request, while still others are telling their staff to wait for further guidance.
It’s the first sign of a “Trump appointees appear[ing] to contradict Musk,” according to the CNN’s assessment.
However, President Trump himself has since spoken in favor of the mass firing threat, saying during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday that “What he’s doing is saying, ‘Are you actually working?’ And then, if you don’t answer, like, you’re sort of semi-fired or you’re fired, because a lot of people aren’t answering because they don’t even exist.”
Trump’s stance isn’t a surprise. Prior to Musk’s posts about the email and the email itself going out on Saturday, Trump posted to social media that “ELON IS DOING A GREAT JOB, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET MORE AGGRESSIVE.”
