Press Releases

Today, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, led more than 100 House Democrats in sending a  letter to the heads of the 24 CFO Act federal agencies, demanding they immediately clarify to their agencies that federal employees do not have to respond to Elon Musk’s ill-conceived, reckless email and that nonresponse does not constitute resignation.

In their letters, the Members noted that some federal agencies, including the Department of State, the National Security Agency (NSA), and even the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) led by Kash Patel have already clarified that OPM and Mr. Musk have no authority to issue these threats. 

“The OPM email and Mr. Musk’s social media post unleashed chaos throughout the federal government leaving millions of public servants unclear how to respond and agency leaders scrambling to determine how to proceed.  Various federal agencies, including the Department of State and National Security Agency, have already appropriately informed federal employees not to respond to the email.  Even Kash Patel, the Administration’s new Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation clarified that OPM and Mr. Musk do not control agency staff, including in a message sent to FBI employees that, ‘the FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all of our review processes and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures,’” wrote the Members. 

The Members cited the opaque and likely unlawful nature of Musk’s employment, and highlighted his clear lack of basic understanding of the federal workforce: 

“Neither Musk’s tweet nor the email account for the fact that many federal workers will not be receiving this email in time to respond by the deadline as they may be away from their secure workstation, on medical leave, or away from their email for completely justifiable reasons.  He also, disturbingly, appears to be unaware that many federal employees are locked out of their systems due to DOGE’s ongoing intrusion into federal information technology infrastructure.  Finally, neither Musk nor OPM has explained to the public how OPM and the agencies would even review and process potentially two million responses from across the government—which are duplicative of existing performance management procedures—without diverting resources and costing the American people money and services.”

On February 20, 2025, Committee Democrats launched an investigation into Musk’s role in the Trump Administration after a White House official stated, under oath, that Musk was not a part of DOGE. 

The Members concluded, “To this day, despite repeated inquiries from Congress, we do not know Mr. Musk’s official status in government, we do not know what his financial conflicts of interest may be, and we do not know what—if any—control President Trump actually has over his actions.  The capricious dismissal threatened in Mr. Musk’s post would be illegal and cannot be tolerated.  We urge you to immediately inform federal workers at your agency that his missives do not constitute official orders and that federal employees should not interrupt their service to the public to respond to OPM’s mass email. You must also make clear that Mr. Musk’s threat of dismissal due to nonresponse to OPM’s email is invalid.”

Click here to read the letter to the heads of the 24 CFO Act federal agencies. 

Under Ranking Member Connolly’s leadership, Oversight Democrats have opened numerous investigations into DOGE’s questionable activities, Elon Musk’s role, the Administration’s numerous  attacks on the federal  workforce, and more potential wrongdoing by this Administration. 

If you are a federal worker and would like to share information with Oversight Democrats regarding potential wrongdoing, abuses of power, and threats to federal workers by the Trump Administration, you can blow the whistle here.