Ramirez, More than 100 House Democrats Push Federal Agencies to Regain Order, Renounce Musk Chaos

Washington, DC — Today, Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), the Ranking Member for the Veterans’ Affairs Oversight and Investigation Subcommittee, joined more than 100 Democrats in a letter demanding the heads of 24 federal agencies clarify that federal employees do not have to respond to Elon Musk’s bad-faith email asking for details of weekly tasks. The Members led by Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, are also urging heads to remind employees that nonresponse does not constitute resignation.

In their letters, the Members noted that some federal agencies, including the Department of State, the National Security Agency (NSA), and even the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), led by Kash Patel, have already clarified that OPM and Mr. Musk have no authority to issue these threats. 

“The OPM email and Mr. Musk’s social media post unleashed chaos throughout the federal government leaving millions of public servants unclear how to respond and agency leaders scrambling to determine how to proceed,” wrote the Members. “We urge you to immediately inform federal workers at your agency that his missives do not constitute official orders and that federal employees should not interrupt their service to the public to respond to OPM’s mass email. You must also make clear that Mr. Musk’s threat of dismissal due to nonresponse to OPM’s email is invalid.”

In the letter, the Members highlighted Musk’s clear lack of basic understanding of the federal workforce and cited the opaque and likely unlawful nature of his employment.

“To this day, despite repeated inquiries from Congress, we do not know Mr. Musk’s official status in government, we do not know what his financial conflicts of interest may be, and we do not know what—if any—control President Trump actually has over his actions,” added the members.

Click here to read the letter to the heads of the 24 CFO Act federal agencies. 

Democrats have opened numerous investigations into DOGE’s questionable activities, Elon Musk’s role, the Administration’s numerous attacks on the federal workforce, and more potential wrongdoing by this Administration. 

If you are a federal worker and would like to share information with Oversight Democrats regarding potential wrongdoing, abuses of power, and threats to federal workers by the Trump Administration, you can blow the whistle here.