() Uncertainty remained Tuesday for hundreds of thousands of federal employees following a directive from Elon Musk to explain their recent accomplishments or risk losing their jobs.

Federal workers rattled by Musk’s ultimatum

Musk, who oversees the Department of Government Efficiency, sent an email to hundreds of thousands of federal employees Saturday, giving them roughly 48 hours to report five specific things they had accomplished last week. In a separate message posted on social media, Musk said any employee who failed to respond by the deadline set in the email as 11:59 p.m. EST Monday would lose their job.

The Office of Personnel Management issued a memo Monday to federal departments and agencies, clarifying that it was not mandatory for workers to respond to the email.

The office later clarified individual agencies must decide if they require responses and to determine the consequences of those who fail to do so. It added that agencies should consider whether the “accomplishment bullets” should be integrated into the agency’s weekly activity report.

Hours later, Musk again threatened federal workers in a post on X, his social platform.

“Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination,” he wrote.

President Donald Trump signaled his support of Musk early Monday, two days after the email was sent.

Federal workers blast Musk-caused ‘chaos’

Musk’s unusual demand has faced resistance from several key U.S. agencies led by the president’s loyalists including the FBI, State Department, Homeland Security and the Pentagon which instructed their employees over the weekend not to comply. Lawmakers in both parties said that Musk’s mandate may be illegal, while unions are threatening to sue.

Amid federal budget cuts, has received messages from workers affected by the layoffs, with some departments letting longtime workers go.

One federal worker from the Department of Health and Human Services shared an email with they received at 5 p.m. ET Monday night. “No HHS expectation that HHS employees respond to OPM and there is no impact to your employment with the agency if you choose not to respond,” the email read.

However, if employees did respond, they were advised to tailor their answers as if “malign foreign actors” might read them.

A Veterans Affairs worker told that some nurses came in on their day off Monday, bringing their children, to fill out the required bullet points. These workers were unable to access email from home due to firewall restrictions, creating anxiety about possible consequences.

One VA worker expressed concern about how these changes could impact veterans’ services. “Making efficient is one thing, shrinking and crippling is another,” the employee said. “Ultimately, they are taking away protection and support for Americans. That is what I am most concerned about.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.