In response to Elon Musk's email demanding U.S. federal workers to submit a list of five things they accomplished last week, one federal agency sent its employees an ominous warning: Assume that your answers will fall into the wrong hands.
"[T]here is no impact to your employment with the agency if you choose not to respond," the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said, in part, to its employees in an email yesterday afternoon, which journalist Marisa Kabas posted on Bluesky (see full HHS email here).
The HHS memo goes on to advise employees who do decide to obey Musk on how to protect themselves and the department's work, including:
• "Keep your response at a high level of generality and describe your work in a manner to protect sensitive data, personally identifiable information, and applicable privileges to the extent possible."
• "If you are engaged in scientific research or reviews, do not identify by name any drugs, devices, biologics, therapeutics or similar items in your response."
• "If you are engaged in any scientific experiments, research, or reviews, do not provide Information that could allow anyone to identify the precise nature of your work."
But it was the final piece of advice that was the most chilling: "Assume that what you write will be read by malign foreign actors and tailor your response accordingly."
And so, while a catatonic Congress sits in a stupor as they watch pro-Putin oligarchs overthrow the U.S. government, this is where we're at.
From NBC News:
The email comes after days of confusion following an email that was blasted out across the federal government on Saturday by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. It followed a Musk tweet that said "all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation." …
Musk defended the email request Monday evening in a post on X.
"The email request was utterly trivial, as the standard for passing the test was to type some words and press send!," Musk wrote. "Yet so many failed even that inane test, urged on in some cases by their managers. Have you ever witnessed such INCOMPETENCE and CONTEMPT for how YOUR TAXES are being spent?"
In another post, Musk indicated that another email could be forthcoming, and that termination would result for those who don't respond to that one.
"Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination," Musk wrote.
Previously: Federal workers tell Elon to take his DOGE and shove it
