Musk barks back at Pentagon critic
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Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in the Oval Office of the White House earlier this month. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Elon Musk singled out a Defense Department official who criticized an Office of Personnel Management email demanding workers account for their work, as he escalates DOGE's efforts to overhaul the federal government.
The big picture: Musk said on X, "Anyone with the attitude of that Pentagon official needs to look for a new job."
- The billionaire DOGE leader was apparently responding to a CNN report that a Pentagon official had called the directive "the silliest thing I've seen in 40 years."
- Musk had said anyone who failed to email the OPM with what they'd accomplished in the past week would be considered as having resigned.
Zoom in: An OPM spokesperson has emphasized that agencies will determine any next steps of the office's request to account for what they accomplished in the past week, which did not mention Musk's threat.
Separately, Pentagon official Darin Selnick, acting as under secretary of Defense for personnel and readiness, was reportedly among several federal agency officials advising workers to ignore Musk's threat that they would lose their jobs if they failed to respond to the OPM email.
- Representatives for the Pentagon did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment in the evening on whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed off on the below directive:
Go deeper: Americans wary of Elon Musk and DOGE, recent polls show
This story and headline were updated to clarify that Elon Musk appeared to be addressing an unnamed Pentagon official.
