Some federal workers are turning to Reddit to ask what to do this week after they did not receive an email from DOGE requesting a five-bullet-point summary of work accomplishments in the past week.
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On r/fednews, the subreddit that has become a popular discussion forum for federal employees grappling with Elon Musk’s drastic government cuts via his Department of Government Efficiency, users are seeking advice on whether they are supposed to continue responding to Musk’s team given his team didn’t reach out.
“Anyone else not get a ‘Five Things’ email this week?” questioned one poster, who added: “Our directions say to RESPOND to the email every Monday, but there is no email, thus nothing to respond to.”
Responses were divided, although a number of commenters stressed that they shouldn’t expect a new email each week, but rather were “expected to submit them each week” regardless of receiving a specific email.
However, others were confused about where to send their responses, as the inboxes changed over time.
“It says it’s reoccurring but they keep changing the email. Are we just supposed to guess what number they’re on?” someone questioned.
“The last email last week said to send it every week,” said someone else. “I think they aren’t sending it this week as a test to see if we can follow their directions.”
But some were confident they no longer had to reach out to Musk.
“A friend of mine got an email that there is a pause on the 5 bullets until further notice. Talk to your supervisor,” wrote another.
A lot of the confusion stems from the fact that various agencies are handling the Musk email request differently.
The latest directive from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, which is being used by DOGE for messaging, told workers that they were expected to submit similar lists by end of the day every Monday.
However, some agencies opted to manage the requests internally, with employees given different instructions.
A memo sent to Homeland Security employees, for example, was limited in scope to the specific week it was delivered.
Now, some DHS employees have reported being told that the weekly accomplishments email was no longer required—though no policy has yet been implemented department-wide.
“My agency is arguing on whether to send it or not. My supervisor said no but then my regional manager says yes… it’s like a damn court case making its way to the Supreme Court,” commented one Redditor.
But one self-identified Department of the Interior employee said that the agency’s employees were told “to consider it a weekly recurring item.”
The lack of clear instructions has caused a wave of confusion and outrage among the federal workers turning to Reddit for advice on how to proceed.
“So they’re too fcking lazy to send a new request each week?” commented one person in the same Reddit thread. “The irony is rich.”
In another thread under the same subreddit, a separate user asked a similar question: “Did anyone get the ‘HR’ email regarding ‘what did you do last week’? I didn’t see one.”
“Who do I send my 5 accomplishments to?” asked another poster.
“It’s not up to me to try and figure out which email box to use, I was directed hr@opm.gov so that’s where it’s going, even though I know it’s supposed to a numbered box,” quipped one response. “I follow orders :)”
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