Assistant Leader Neguse, House Democrats Call on Federal Agencies to Regain Order
February 24, 2025
Washington, D.C. — Today, House Assistant Minority Leader Joe Neguse (CO-02) joined more than one-hundred House Democrats in sending a letter to heads of the 24 CFO Act federal agencies, demanding they immediately clarify to their agencies that federal employees do not have to respond to the ill-conceived email sent en masse to the Federal workforce and that nonresponse does not constitute resignation.
In the letter, Neguse and his colleagues note that some federal agencies, including the Department of State, the National Security Agency (NSA), and even the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), have already clarified that Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Mr. Musk have no authority to issue these threats.
“President Trump has given the green light to unelected individuals to dismantle federal agencies, leaving countless hardworking Americans and Coloradans in the dark as to whether or not they are at risk of losing their jobs. These are civil servants that promote public safety, advance groundbreaking medical research, ensure timely mail delivery, support our veterans, and so much more,” Assistant Leader Neguse said. “Similar to the litany of unlawful and unconstitutional actions we’ve seen come out of this White House in recent weeks, an unelected billionaire does not have the legal authority to make this demand. Trump’s own appointees recognize this and so will the Courts and the Congress.
House Democrats’ letter is available HERE, with key excerpts below.
“Whether Mr. Musk understands it or not, America is a nation of laws, our government is a system of checks and balances, and federal agencies will not be reorganized by social media post. This stunt is yet another example of the cruel and arbitrary chaos Mr. Musk inflicts on the American people by carelessly ‘taking a chainsaw’ to the people’s government and the dedicated public servants who keep it running. Mr. Musk’s consistent refusal to take any amount of care before disrupting operations across the federal government imposes far greater costs than it will legitimately save.”
“Saturday’s actions are a clear attempt by the Trump Administration to force the departure of dedicated civil servants who resoundingly refused to take the bait on Mr. Musk’s scam ‘deferred resignation’ offer. It won’t work. Federal workers are committed to serving the American people. Indiscriminate online bullying will not advance any serious effort to ensure that the federal workforce is efficient, well-qualified, motivated, and deployed to maximize the effectiveness of government for the American people.”
“The capricious dismissal threatened in Mr. Musk’s post would be illegal and cannot be tolerated. We urge you to immediately inform federal workers at your agency that his missives do not constitute official orders and that federal employees should not interrupt their service to the public to respond to OPM’s mass email. You must also make clear that Mr. Musk’s threat of dismissal due to nonresponse to OPM’s email is invalid.”
###