Elon Musk gives all federal workers 48 hours to explain what they did last week
New York, Feb 23 (AP): Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have little more than 48 hours to explain what they accomplished over the last week as part of billionaire Elon Musk's crusade to slash what he describes as "waste everywhere" in the federal government.
Musk, who serves as President Donald Trump's cost-cutting chief, teased the extraordinary request on his social media network on Saturday.
"Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump's instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week," Musk posted on X, which he owns. "Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation."
Shortly afterward, federal employees received a three-line email with this instruction: "Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager."
The deadline to respond is Monday at 11:59 pm.
Thousands of government employees have already been forced out of the federal workforce — either by being fired or offered a buyout — during the first month of Trump's administration as the White House and Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency fire both new and career workers, tell agency leaders to plan for "large-scale reductions in force" and freeze trillions of dollars in federal grant funds.
There is no official figure available for the total firings or layoffs so far, but The Associated Press has tallied hundreds of thousands of workers who are being affected. Many work outside of Washington. The cuts include thousands at the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Defense, Health and Human Services, the Internal Revenue Service and the National Parks Service, among others.
AFGE President Everett Kelley quickly condemned the ultimatum as an example of Trump and Musk's "utter disdain for federal employees and the critical services they provide to the American people".
"It is cruel and disrespectful to hundreds of thousands of veterans who are wearing their second uniform in the civil service to be forced to justify their job duties to this out-of-touch, privileged, unelected billionaire who has never performed one single hour of honest public service in his life," Kelley said. "AFGE will challenge any unlawful terminations of our members and federal employees across the country."
Musk on Friday celebrated his new role at a gathering of conservatives by waving a giant chainsaw in the air. He called it "the chainsaw for bureaucracy" and said, "Waste is pretty much everywhere" in the federal government.
McLaurine Pinover, a spokesperson at the Office of Personnel Management, confirmed Musk's directive and said that individual agencies would "determine any next steps".
What happens if an employee is on leave or vacation? Again, she said individual agencies would determine how to proceed.
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Leopard tranquilised, rescued from tunnel on Pune airport premises
Pune (PTI): A male adult leopard that had been intermittently moving within the Pune Airport premises since late April has been darted and captured safely, forest officials said on Friday.
The feline was captured following a multi-agency operation led by the Forest Department, in collaboration with RESQ Charitable Trust, the Indian Air Force and Pune Airport authorities, they said.
The presence of the big cat was first confirmed on April 28. On November 19, the leopard was spotted once again.
Forest officials said the wild animal utilised an extensive network of underground tunnels, dense vegetation and low-footfall zones within the airport premises to move in and out of the area.
Given the vast and sensitive nature of the airport landscape, capture efforts posed challenges. Continuous monitoring was undertaken using camera traps, live cameras and trap cages, though the leopard avoided entering cages, officials said in a release.
On December 4, officials were informed that the leopard had entered the underground tunnel network. Tunnel exits were then closed and more live surveillance cameras were installed to track its movement within the confined space.
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A 30-member team comprising personnel from the Forest Department, RESQ trust and the Indian Air Force guided the leopard into an approximately 80-foot-long tunnel, the release said. The leopard was then tranquilised by wildlife veterinarian Dr Gourav Mangla, it said.
“The leopard had damaged both live cameras, and I had to take a clean shot from a very difficult angle in a confined tunnel space. The successful darting was possible only because the teams held their positions calmly and executed the plan exactly as designed,” said Dr Mangla.
The leopard has since recovered and is currently housed at the Transit Treatment Centre at Bavdhan, Pune, for further observation and assessment.
Mahadev Mohite, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Pune Division, said coordination among the various agencies led to the capture of the big cat. Officials said no human injuries occurred during the operation and that airport operations continued without disruption.
