Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has drafted guidance for all civilian employees that they will have 48 hours to comply with the next “What You Did Last Week” email expected to go out Monday, according to a memo dated Feb. 27 obtained by NOTUS.
The “updated guidance” would be a reversal from previous policy, which instructed Department of Defense employees to essentially disregard Elon Musk’s call for all federal workers to report roughly five things they accomplished at work in the prior week.
Hegseth’s memorandum, dated Thursday, had not been issued department-wide as of Friday midday. The memo says the Office of Personnel Management will issue a second request on Monday, March 3, related to employee productivity.
The practice is reportedly expected to become a weekly directive from OPM, according to The Washington Post.
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Last week, OPM’s government-wide email was met with mixed reviews from agency heads. Hegseth, among others, told employees to pause any response until further review. In the updated guidance, the secretary says his office reviewed Pentagon procedures in consultation with OPM. Hegseth’s memo clarifies that the responses should exclude sensitive or classified information. It also notes that employees without regular email access must reply within 48 hours of regaining access. Employees who do not respond may be under “further review,” it says.
OPM’s first email was met with confusion in the Pentagon. As NOTUS previously reported, Sen. Mark Kelly said he had a “military officer” receive the email requesting five accomplishments.
The White House has doubled down on the directive, which was pushed by Musk on X, but also said it would ultimately be up to the agency heads. Musk has repeatedly said that workers who do not comply will lose their jobs — though it’s not clear he has that authority.
The Pentagon press office did not comment on the memo.
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John T. Seward is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow. Reese Gorman is a reporter at NOTUS.
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