Showing the significant influence of Elon Musk’s leadership style in President Donald Trump’s new administration, a memo sent to government employees Tuesday night informing them of an ultimatum between significant job changes or severance was found to closely mirror an email Musk sent to Twitter employees in 2022, shortly after taking over the company.
The emails — one from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent Tuesday night and the other from Musk to Twitter employees in November 2022 — share the same subject line: “A Fork in the Road,” the emails, both obtained by ABC News, show.
The memo sent to government employees Tuesday evening informed them of their offer for “deferred resignation,” which would begin effective immediately and offer pay and benefits until Sept. 30, for those who accept.
Any government employee can qualify through Feb. 6, “except for military personnel of the armed forces, employees of the U.S. Postal Service, those in positions related to immigration enforcement and national security, and those in any other positions specifically excluded by your employing agency,” the memo said.
The memo, which called for an end to working from home and dedication to more intense work, immediately sparked confusion among federal employees over whether they were expected to cease work if they took the “deferred resignation,” or work remotely through September. A follow-up memo from the government said employees who accept the resignation offer would “promptly” have their duties reassigned or eliminated, and be placed on administrative leave.
OPM said each agency should report updates on the number of employees who have accepted resignations every Friday, starting this week.
The four pillars of change outlined in the OPM memo included returning to office five days a week and possibly facing physical office relocations, restructuring or layoffs at the majority of federal agencies and committing to “excellence” at every level of government, subject to “enhanced standards” of conduct.
“The federal workforce should be comprised of the best America has to offer. We will insist on excellence at every level – our performance standards will be updated to reward and promote those that exceed expectations and address in a fair and open way those who do not meet the high standards which the taxpayers of this country have a right to demand,” the memo read.
It mirrors the 2022 language Musk used when he asked Twitter employees newly under his purview to commit to being “extremely hardcore” and working “long hours at high intensity.”
“Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade,” Musk wrote to Twitter employees at the time.
The emails also ended the same way. While the OPM memo requires employees to only respond “Resign” to the email in order to report their decision, Musk asked Twitter employees to “click yes on the link below” if they wanted to stay on at Twitter.
“Whatever decision you make, thank you for your efforts to make Twitter successful,” Musk wrote in 2022.
And on Tuesday, the closing message to government employees by OPM: “Whichever path you choose, we thank you for your service to The United States of America.”
Musk developed a close relationship with Trump in the final months of his campaign and was tapped to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, in order to eliminate what the Trump administration considers to be wasteful spending. Musk tweeted a reply on X to a post by his Super PAC on the buyouts simply saying, “A fork in the road.”
The America super PAC tweeted an estimated 5% to 10% of the workforce was expected to take the buyout, “which could lead to around $100 billion in savings.”
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