One month following the intervention when the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk, instructed all federal staff to provide a weekly compilation of their tasks and activities,
five things
During the past week, they achieved their goals; however, technical problems disrupted the process.
Several workers from various departments have encountered bounce-back messages stating that the inbox at the Office of Personnel Management is saturated, stopping them from submitting their submissions, as evidenced by numerous emails examined by ABC News.
Following the submission of their weekly “5 Things” newsletter on Monday, certain federal workers got an automatic reply from an OPM email account indicating, “The recipient’s mailbox is at capacity and cannot receive further messages right now. You may attempt sending your correspondence again subsequently or reach out to the individual directly.” This was as per the content of those particular emails.
FURTHER: Musk employed the ‘What did you accomplish this week?’ strategy at Twitter.
Sources reported that federal workers from various departments such as the IRS, Social Security Administration, and the Department of Health and Human Services faced this problem earlier this week.
The weekly emails are a component of Musk’s strategy.
ongoing efforts
To implement President Donald Trump’s commitment to make the government more efficient and reduce expenditures.
Officials from OPM and DOGE did not reply to requests for comments from ABC News.
Following the bounced messages, certain organizations have instructed staff to forward their reports to a different OPM email address instead. On Monday, personnel from the Department of Health and Human Services got an internal message saying, “We know that emails…are coming back marked as undeliverable. Kindly direct your weekly achievements to [an alternative address], with a copy sent to your manager.”
The most recent issue has compounded the situation.
confusion
Regarding the “5 Things” mandate, several federal employees told ABC News about the situation. Although Musk first warned these workers that they could lose their jobs if they didn’t adhere to this rule, many sources informed ABC News that the implementation seems to have weakened at certain departments. Some staff members now submit their reports less frequently without facing repercussions.
A federal worker informed ABC News that they establish a weekly alert every Monday to submit the identical five achievements each week and have never faced scrutiny regarding this practice.
A different worker mentioned that certain team members are publicly ridiculing DOGE in their reports. They informed ABC News, “It doesn’t seem like anybody is paying attention to these.”
The extent of the email problem remains uncertain. However, some organizations utilize distinct OPM email addresses specifically for submitting “5 Things,” and these haven’t experienced comparable problems with bounced emails.
