Wright tells DOE employees to hold off on OPM email response

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has advised Department of Energy employees to “please pause” on responding directly to an email from the Office of Personnel Management entitled, “What did you do last week?”

“The Department of Energy is responsible for reviewing the performance of its personnel and will conduct any review in accordance with its own procedures,” Wright said in an email obtained by the Exchange Monitor. “When and if required, the Department will provide a coordinated response to the OPM email,” said Wright who was confirmed by the Senate Feb. 3.

Other federal agencies, such as the Defense Department, are also telling their employees not to respond to the email, according to media outlets.

Elon Musk, who oversees President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency that aims to eliminate wasteful government spending, said on the website X that “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 said.