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IRS Employees Told To Comply With DOGE ‘Accomplishments’ Demand

Email obtained by TPM shows that Treasury directed IRS staffers to obey Elon Musk's directive.
OXON HILL, MARYLAND - FEBRUARY 20: CEO of Tesla and SpaceX Elon Musk wields a chainsaw as he leaves the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel And Convention... OXON HILL, MARYLAND - FEBRUARY 20: CEO of Tesla and SpaceX Elon Musk wields a chainsaw as he leaves the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel And Convention Center on February 20, 2025 in Oxon Hill, Maryland. The annual four-day gathering brings together conservative U.S. lawmakers, international leaders, media personalities and businessmen to discuss and champion conservative ideas. Argentinian President Javier Milei gifted Musk the chainsaw that he used as a prop while campaigning. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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IRS employees must comply with Elon Musk’s demand for five “accomplishments” by tonight, the Treasury Department told employees in a Monday email obtained by TPM.

The leaders of several agencies dealing with law enforcement and national security issues, including the FBI, Department of Justice, and Department of Defense reportedly told workers to disregard or to hold off on responding to the DOGE message, sent from the Office of Personnel Management on Saturday and heralded on X by Elon Musk.

But in a Monday message, Treasury leadership instructed Department employees to comply. The directive includes IRS workers, who are charged with collecting tax revenue and investigating acts of fraud.

The email was signed by John W. York, who is reportedly a senior advisor to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. It directed employees to reply to the OPM message by midnight Monday, and to “show the significance of the work you performed” without revealing confidential or other sensitive information.

Parts of it are also written with the same sneering tone as many other DOGE-related missives to the federal civil service.

“The OPM message reflects an effort to increase accountability by the federal workforce, just as there is in the private sector,” the email reads. “Given the voluminous and extremely important work that Treasury staff perform on a daily basis, we expect that compliance will not be difficult or time-consuming.”

Musk had said on X over the weekend that not responding with a list of five weekly accomplishments would be interpreted as a resignation. It was a bizarre claim that was not included in the Saturday email, and that was reportedly contradicted by OPM in a Monday message to agency leaders. At the same time, President Trump said on Monday that workers who did not reply would be “sort of semi-fired.”

But the mandate that employees of the IRS, an agency that handles sensitive and important data, comply with the Musk directive suggests that it continues to be of great interest to Trump officials as the president as his advisors maraud through the executive branch. It comes as DOGE has asserted control over payments systems across the federal government, giving Musk’s team a window into the flows of money that keep the government running. The IRS provides a main route for taxpayer dollars to enter federal coffers, another potentially tantalizing target for DOGE, which started its work at the agency earlier this month.

After President Richard Nixon was found to have used the agency to target political opponents, lawmakers and executive branch officials introduced a number of reforms aimed at insulating the agency from partisan politics. But in this instance, IRS employees are being told to provide information about their work directly to an outside entity.

The IRS did not immediately return TPM’s request for comment.

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Notable Replies

  1. After several contradictory e-mails and two more clarifications, Department of the Interior employees are currently being encouraged but not required to respond to Musk. Also, “no one will be fired if they do not respond to the email.”

  2. I keep thinking about the poor sods who have to deal with this absurdity. What if you have one small project you’re working on, and don’t have five things? And what five things has Elon Musk done besides post on X and wave chainsaws around? (Excuse me – told someone else to do?)

  3. “The email was signed by John W. York…”

    He is a good Little Eichmann!

    (Like all Heritage rats.)

  4. The key words in this story, “sneering tone.” That’s what sums up the intent behind everything these fuckers are doing. They do not have even a crumb of respect for anyone working in government, or likely anywhere else.

    Here’s the thing about this tone. Americans, used to living in a society in which one doesn’t ultimately have to put up with sneering tone, are stewing in this malevolence right now. They don’t like being treated like shit, they’re not used to it, and they absolutely don’t think they need to take it for long. Undoing the government for bad reasons would be bad enough done with some respect as the lies are delivered. But these turds are actually adding fuel that will be unleashed in the coming return blast. Because stupid evil can’t help itself, apparently.

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