The Musk Musk Fork in the Road: Resigning from the Navy after Musk Buys the Company – an E-Mail from Eisenmann

“We represent people that do cybersecurity at NASA and other places. We represent people who work in the sciences. He said that the people that work at the Navy yards prepare the aircraft carriers and subs for sea trials to support Navy personnel.

On Tuesday, federal employees received an email that mirrors the “Fork in the Road” missive sent to Twitter (now X) staff shortly after Musk bought the company in 2022. If federal workers do not want to return to the office five days a week, then they will have to resign by February 6. Those who choose to resign will continue to get pay and benefits until September, according to the memo.

“This ‘fork’ thing is not an offer to be terminated by the company,” said Jim Eisenmann, a partner with Alden Law Group who represents federal employees. It’s not based on any law, regulation or anything else except an idea they cooked up to get federal employees out of the government.

The email said that employees had to accept the deal by Feb. 6. Anyone wishing to resign was instructed to reply to the email with the word “resign” and hit “send.”

In the memo, it states that my employing agency would likely make adjustments in response to my resignation, including moving, eliminating, consolidation, reassigning, and/or placing me on paid administrative leave until my resignation date.

Elon Musk’s Twitter Playbook isn’t Just Forbidden by the Guarantee of Your Position and Agency, but We’re Trying to Reinvent It

Several federal employees told NPR that before last week, they had never received any communications directly from OPM. The question was asked if the email was real.

“There’s no guarantee other things won’t happen to them between now and then, like they won’t get fired for some other reason or they won’t get laid off pursuant to a reduction in force,” he said.

Matthew Biggs, president of the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers (IFPTE), went as far as to call the email a “resignation threat.”

“It’s written pretty clearly that if you don’t take this thing, this so-called offer, you may not have a job,” he said, pointing to a part of the memo that informs employees who wish to remain in their jobs that “the certainty of your position or agency” is not assured.

NASA, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Justice are among the thousands of federal employees that IFPTE represents.

Biggs says members who work in areas the memo excludes from the resignation offer, including immigration enforcement and national security, nevertheless received the memo.

Elon Musk is only one week into his role in President Donald Trump’s new administration, but the US federal government is already rolling out the Twitter playbook to manage its spending and personnel. Just like Musk did when he took over the social media platform, Trump’s team is attempting to drastically reduce the number of government staffers and ensure those who remain are loyal to the president’s agenda.

“The federal workforce should be comprised of employees who are reliable, loyal, trustworthy, and who strive for excellence in their daily work,” reads the email, which was later published on the US Office of Personnel Management website. “Employees will be subject to enhanced standards of suitability and conduct as we move forward.”

The news came as Musk and his associates took over the US Office of Personnel Management, which handles all human resources for federal employees. Elon Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment from WIRED. The Office of Personnel Management did not respond to the request.

Musk and his advisors, including Trump’s newly appointed AI and crypto czar David Sacks, used a remarkably similar strategy at Twitter. About a week after the acquisition was complete, Musk laid off half the workforce. Sacks advised him on the teams and people to cut.

About a month later, the remaining employees got an email with the subject line A Fork in the Road. They would need to be very hardcore in order to realize Musk’s vision. Working long hours at high intensity meant it. He said that only exceptional performance would receive a passing grade. Employees were asked to opt into this vision via a web form. Three months of unemployment were given to anyone who failed to do so by the next day. Thousands of Twitter employees would later sue, arguing that they were not paid their full severance. Musk was able to get the suit thrown out.

“We are all shaking our heads in disbelief at how familiar this all feels,” says Yao Yue, a former principal engineer at Twitter. “Except, the federal government and its employees have specific laws in terms of spending, hiring, and firing.”