FBI chief Kash Patel pushes back against Elon Musk's justify-your-job ultimatum

Kash Patel, who took oath as the ninth director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Saturday, asked his employees to ignore the “justify-your-job” ultimatum sent by Elon Musk. Patel said the FBI will review the work of its own employees in accordance with its own procedures.

Billionaire Elon Musk on Saturday issued an ultimatum to federal employees, saying that they must respond to an email justifying the work they have done this week or resign. He added that failure to respond to this email “will be taken as a resignation”.

However, Kash Patel’s response to his employees over Musk’s mail might be a sign that cracks are already beginning to show in the Trump administration.

“FBI personnel may have received an email from OPM requesting information. The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all of our review processes, and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures. When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses,” an email, obtained by NBC, read.

Federal employees have already begun receiving an email asking to summarise their work and respond to his email in five bullet points.

This came as Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continues slashing government spending and bureaucracy by auditing several federal agencies. In an X post Tuesday, DOGE said it discovered 4 million active credit cards on the US government's books.

President Donald Trump has been supportive of Musk's work with DOGE. On Saturday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that though Musk is "doing a great job," he should be "more aggressive."