WP: Musk readies exit from DOGE as weekly email order unravels

Elon Musk is preparing to depart his role in the US government, with his influence over the controversial DOGE initiative appearing to wane.

The billionaire, serving as a special government employee, is expected to leave by the end of May amid mounting criticism and confusion over one of his flagship mandates: requiring all federal workers to submit weekly emails listing five accomplishments, Caliber.Az reports per The Washington Post.

The directive, announced in February as part of Musk’s efforts to streamline government operations and reduce spending, was intended as an “accountability measure.” Employees were warned that noncompliance would be treated as resignation. However, internal documents and interviews reveal that federal agencies largely disregarded the instruction from the outset.

Shortly after the announcement, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) clarified that the initiative was voluntary and that no penalties would follow noncompliance. The agency also stated it had no intention of using the emails in any meaningful way, further undercutting the policy's legitimacy.

As Musk prepares his exit, agencies have adopted a patchwork approach to the weekly email requirement. Some have dropped it altogether, others have labelled it optional, and a few still mandate it without clear enforcement or tracking. In some departments, workers have taken to submitting the same boilerplate responses—or even messages in foreign languages—as a form of quiet protest.

The confusion has exposed the lack of a coordinated strategy behind the initiative and reflects broader disorganisation within DOGE, which Musk launched to reshape federal bureaucracy. A key figure in the programme, software engineer Christopher Stanley, reportedly helped implement similar practices at X.

Despite internal pushback and inconsistent implementation, the White House continues to describe DOGE as a successful model of bureaucratic reform. Yet with Musk’s impending departure and employee resistance mounting, the long-term viability of his policies remains uncertain.

By Aghakazim Guliyev