(NewsNation) — Elon Musk issued an ominous demand of government workers Saturday.

The billionaire tech guru — hand-picked by President Trump to examine and cut federal spending — announced civil servants will be asked to send an email explaining what they accomplished last week. Those who don’t comply will be fired, he said in a post on his social media platform X.

“Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation,” Musk said.

A copy of the email query obtained by NewsNation specifically asks federal employees to reply with five bullet points summing up their accomplishments, by the end of Monday. It instructs them to CC their manager. The message did not include the threat of firing.

The federal workforce has been in turmoil as Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has launched an overhaul of government to save what he claims could be trillions of dollars. The Trump administration faces a myriad of legal challenges questioning the White House’s unilateral ability to cut spending.

The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union representing federal workers, criticized Musk’s latest salvo at civil servants, many of whom are veterans.  

“It is cruel and disrespectful,” union president Everett Kelley said, “to hundreds of thousands of veterans who are wearing their second uniform in the civil service to be forced to justify their job duties to the this out-of-touch, privileged, unelected billionaire who has never performed one single hour of honest public service in his life.”