FBI director Kash Patel told the bureau workers they shouldn’t respond.
Some federal agencies have told employees to respond to a new, large email that asked government workers to detail their recent achievements, while others would not respond to staff. I instructed.
The Drug Enforcement Agency has instructed employees to respond to emails, according to an internal message. Federal Communications Commission staff have also been instructed to respond.
At least one agency initially instructed workers to respond before advised them to refrain from later. The agency, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said in its latest message that authorities are working on how to “best fulfill the intentions” of the directive.
The Drug Enforcement Bureau, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.
Other agencies have maintained that employees should not respond, at least for now.
FBI director Kash Patel also said that while State Department workers were told the same thing, department workers should not respond to department workers, according to an internal email.
An FBI spokesman declined to comment. A State Department spokesman introduced the questions to the White House.
The White House did not respond to an investigation.
Trump has directed Doge to help agencies cut costs and become more efficient. This effort has resulted in at least 75,000 resignations and thousands of terminations.
The deadline was said to be February 24th, just before midnight.
An OPM spokesman said agencies will decide on their next step in response to a large amount of email. When asked what would happen if an employee didn’t answer due to leave or due to retirement, she said the agency would decide how to proceed.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to the report.