Elon Musk speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, in Oxon Hill, Md. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

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Elon MuskFederal workersReturn to officeAdministrative leaveTrumpExecutive orderDownsizingLabor unions

WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Donald Trump’s cost-cutting chief Elon Musk warned federal remote workers to return to work— or risk losing their job.

Monday, February 24, is the deadline for federal workers who didn’t take the buyout or whose agency did not shut down to return to the office.

“Those who ignored President Trump’s executive order to return to work have now received over a month’s warning,” Musk wrote on X Monday morning. “Starting this week, those who still fail to return to office will be placed on administrative leave.”

In January, Trump warned federal employees that they must return to pre-pandemic norms and return to their offices “or be terminated.”

Musk’s warning comes after Musk warned federal employees on Saturday of a new policy requiring them to detail their work efforts via email in order to keep their jobs.

Ralph Norman, R- S.C., backed Musk, writing there isn’t a “single agency” that is occupying “even half of their office.”

Norman then added, “Welcome back to work, folks” in a post reposted by Musk.

Trump believes few federal employees would return to the office and “therefore our government will get smaller and more efficient.”

Over the weekend, Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency’s sent an email instructing federal employees to explain what work they did in the past week. Musk said those who do not reply risk losing their jobs.

Attorneys for federal workers said Monday in a lawsuit that Musk had violated the law demanding that employees explain their accomplishments or risk being fired.

The updated lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in California and was provided to The Associated Press, is trying to block mass layoffs pursued by Musk and Trump, including any connected to the email distributed by the Office of Personnel Management on Saturday. The office, which functions as a human resources agency for the federal government, said employees needed to detail five things that they did last week by end of day on Monday.

“No OPM rule, regulation, policy, or program has ever, in United States history, purported to require all federal workers to submit reports to OPM,” said the amended complaint, which was filed on behalf of unions, businesses veterans, and conservation groups. It called the threat of mass firings “one of the most massive employment frauds in the history of this country.”

Earlier this month, a federal judge made it easier for Trump to implement his plan to downsize the federal workforce by offering a deferred resignation program.

U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr. found that the group of federal labor unions that originally stopped the buyout didn’t actually have any legal standing to challenge the deferred resignation.

Editor’s Note: The Associated Press contributed to this report.