Elon Musk, the billionaire entrusted with modernizing the federal government, and some of President Donald Trump's agency heads seemed to be at odds on Sunday over Musk's insistence that all federal employees report their weekly successes or face termination.

On Saturday afternoon, federal employees received an email from the Office of Personnel Management with the subject, "What did you do last week?" By Sunday evening, officials at the Pentagon, Federal Bureau of Investigation, State Department, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Energy had all directed their employees not to respond.

Some supervisors, such as those at the Department of Health and Human Services, gave employees instructions to send a list of five successes from the previous week to a generic government email address, but they later changed their minds. Others merely instructed their employees to hold off on responding to the note until Monday.

A request for comment regarding the apparent contradiction between Musk's order and the advice given by department chiefs was not answered by the White House.

An already uneasy government workforce was further agitated by the rush to determine Trump and Musk's precise intentions with the communication. It appeared to set up a confrontation between Musk, who has shown little regard for the rigid chains of command that govern life within the federal bureaucracy, and some agency directors, all of whom were selected by Trump himself and are regarded as supporters of his cause.

Musk did not appear to be slowing down in the midst of the uncertainty.

He posted on his platform, X, on Sunday, "EXTREMELY troubling that some parts of government think this is TOO MUCH??" "What is the matter with them?"

Republicans criticized Musk's efforts over the weekend, with Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska highlighting what she described as the "absurd weekend email."

Murkowski commented on X, "Elon Musk should learn about the jobs he's trying to cut and get to know each department and agency if he really wants to understand what federal workers accomplished over the past week."

Senior leaders from each department worked through the night and into Sunday to provide their staff direction on what to do next. Kash Patel, who was sworn in as FBI director at the end of last week, was among the first to urge against responding.

"All of our review processes are under the jurisdiction of the FBI, through the Office of the Director, and will be carried out in compliance with FBI protocols," Patel wrote. "We will coordinate the responses when and if more information is needed. Please suspend any responses for the time being.

Even though Trump implied on the internet that he was still in favor of the idea, a slew of other agencies, many of which were charged with safeguarding the country's safety and national security, followed suit by Sunday.

On Sunday, acting Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Darin Selnick stated, "The Department of Defense is responsible for reviewing the performance of its personnel and will conduct any review in accordance with its own procedures." The department will arrange for responses to the email you received from OPM when and if necessary. For the time being, kindly refrain from responding to the OPM email with the subject line, "What did you do last week?"

As they attempted to decide what to inform staff members about how to react, several senior Defense Department officials told CNN that the email threw their weekend into disarray.

"It totally usurps the chain of command and is the silliest thing I have seen in 40 years," one official declared. "That isn't done in the DoD, but it might be done elsewhere."

According to an email acquired by CNN, R.D. Alles, the department's deputy under secretary for management, sent a message to Homeland Security staff instructing them not to reply for the time being.

The email, which was sent on Sunday, states that "DHS management will respond on behalf of the department and all of its component offices." "At this moment, you don't need to take any reporting action. Please hold off on responding to anything outside of your DHS line of command for the time being.

Additionally, the State Department told its employees who worked in remote locations that they were not required to reply either.

"On behalf of the Department, the State Department will reply. The interim Undersecretary of Management stated in an email issued late Saturday that no employee is required to report their activities outside of their Department chain of command.

Employees were informed by the Department of Health and Human Services on Sunday morning that the email was authentic and that they needed to read it and reply by Monday at 11:59 p.m. ET. On Sunday afternoon, however, the agency changed its advice and instructed staff to "pause" responding to the email.

HHS employees at the Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had already been instructed by their respective agencies to hold off on responding until Monday. HHS sent the email instructing these departments' employees to hold off on responding on Sunday afternoon.

Not every Trump appointment in charge of federal employees handling private data was as direct or reserved.

In a broad stroke, Ed Martin, the temporary US attorney for Washington, DC, who has openly attempted to win over Musk, informed his prosecutors' office that they might opt to comply.

Martin wrote, "We are delighted to be involved," on Saturday. Regarding confidentiality and our responsibilities, kindly reply to the HR email with consideration. If necessary, be general. I've got your back if someone causes you trouble. You're doing well.

The office's prosecutors would frequently work on cases that might not be classified but would be shielded from publication for other reasons, such as grand jury secrecy or court seals.

Employees throughout the vast government workforce, including Secret Service agents, federal judges, air traffic controllers, and ambassadors, had to deal with yet another disruption on Sunday due to Musk and his group.

Trump's social media plea for Musk to become more "aggressive" in his efforts to restructure the federal government seems to have served as the catalyst this time.

Musk quickly responded with his proposal to require employees to submit an accounting of their work from the previous week. He threatened to terminate anyone who didn't reply in a post on X. When the emails started arriving in federal inboxes hours later, the ultimatum was not mentioned.

Trump provided no indication that he was abandoning the plan, even as the uncertainty among the staff became evident. He mocked the scenario with a "SpongeBob SquarePants" meme. Five bullet points were listed after the graphic that said, "Got done last week": "cried about Trump, cried about Elon, made it into the office for once, read some emails, cried about Trump and Elon some more."

For some high-ranking officials, the experience highlighted Musk's largely unbridled ability to fundamentally alter the federal government thus far.

Musk's group of young engineers has infiltrated numerous agencies with Trump's approval and encouragement, obtaining sensitive databases and requiring career employees to defend their continued employment.

Generally speaking, Trump's appointed secretaries and department heads have encouraged their buildings to be looked into and changed rather than objecting to Musk's efforts.

In private, however, concerns have persisted regarding the extent of Musk's power and whether he ought to have the final say in the management of federal agencies, many of which have complex internal systems.

Even several Republicans had opposed Trump's idea by Sunday.

"If I had one piece of advice for Elon Musk, it would be to add some empathy to this. These are actual people. Sen. John Curtis of Utah stated in an interview on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday, "These are real lives." "The notion that we must make cuts and that doing so requires cruelty is untrue. We are able to do both.