Newly-confirmed FBI director Kash Patel, a loyalist to President Donald Trump, told bureau employees late Saturday to hit “pause” on responding to an Office of Personnel Management inquiry that billionaire Elon Musk warned could result in ousters among the federal workforce.

Patel — a “deep state” conspiracy theorist who has a list of dozens of the president’s enemies — addressed the OPM email in a message to workers as he noted that the FBI is “in charge” of all of its “review processes,” adding that employees “please pause any responses” to the office’s request for information.

Patel’s message arrived hours after the OPM — in an email with the subject line “What did you do last week?” — called on federal employees to reply with bullet points on what they “accomplished” on the job and CC their managers with a deadline of Monday, just prior to midnight on the East Coast.

Musk — in a post to his X platform — wrote that the request was “consistent” with Trump’s “instructions,” adding that “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.” Musk’s call to federal workers brings to mind a text he sent to then-Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal prior to his $44 billion acquisition of the platform (now X) in 2022, The New York Times noted.

Patel’s pushback at Musk’s job ultimatum shows signs of differences in the Trump administration as the president’s billionaire ally continues to lead the nonofficial Department of Government Efficiency on a federal cost-cutting crusade.

Employees in the State Department were also informed not to respond to the email while unions representing federal workers also hit back at the OPM request, per NBC News. National Security Agency employees were told to hit pause on responding to the request, as well, CNN reported.

Source: Huffington Post, Ben Blanchet, Feb 23, 2025