Page 40 - Elon Musk

Trump backs Musk as he roils federal workforce with demands, threats

President Donald Trump voiced support for Elon Musk's demand that federal employees explain their recent accomplishments by the end of Monday or risk getting fired, an edict that has spawned new litigation and added to turmoil within the government workforce. What he's doing is saying, Are you actually working?' Trump said in the Oval Office during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. "And then, if you don't answer, like, you're sort of semi-fired or you're fired, because a lot of people aren't answering because they don't even exist. The Republican president said that Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has found hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud" as he suggested that federal paychecks are going to nonexistent employees. He did not present evidence for his claims. If people don't respond, it's very possible that there is no such person, or they aren't working," Trump said. Attorneys representing unions, businesses, veterans and conservation organisations

FDA to rehire probationary medical device staffers fired only days earlier

Barely a week after mass firings at the Food and Drug Administration, some probationary staffers received unexpected news over the weekend: The government wants them back. Beginning Friday night, FDA employees overseeing medical devices and other key areas received calls and emails notifying them that their recent terminations had been rescinded effective immediately, according to messages viewed by The Associated Press. Three FDA staffers impacted by the decisions spoke with the AP on condition of anonymity because they planned to continue working for the agency and weren't authorised to discuss its internal procedures. The reversal is the latest example of President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk's chaotic approach to cost-cutting, which has resulted in several agencies firing, and then scrambling to rehire, employees responsible for nuclear weapons, national parks and other government services. The FDA reinstatements followed pushback by lobbyists for the medical device

Federal employees across US return to offices amid threat from Elon Musk

Federal employees across the country, many of whom have worked from home since the COVID-19 pandemic, were back at agency offices Monday under President Donald Trump's return-to-office mandate. Billionaire Elon Musk, who is leading Trump's Department of Government Efficiency scouring government agencies for suspected waste, delivered a warning Monday to workers on his platform X. Starting this week, those who still fail to return to office will be placed on administrative leave, Musk wrote. Lee Zeldin, Trump's new administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said Monday on X, formerly Twitter, Full-time, COVID-era remote work is DONE under @POTUS leadership. In a video he posted, Zeldin said average attendance at EPA headquarters on Mondays and Fridays last year was less than 9% of employees. Our spacious, beautiful EPA headquarters spans two city blocks in D.C. across five buildings, Zeldin said. But our hallways have been too vacant, desks empty and cubicles filled with

Fired federal workers hunt for new jobs but struggle to replace old ones

HIRING: Park ranger. SEEKING: Nuclear submarine engineer. WANTED: Sled dog musher. If they seem unlikely postings, they probably are. But a laid-off federal worker can dream. Axed from jobs not easily found outside government, thousands of federal workers caught in President Donald Trump's cost-cutting efforts now face a difficult search for work. If you're doing, say, vegetation sampling and prescribed fire as your main work, there aren't many jobs, says Eric Anderson, 48, of Chicago, who was fired Feb. 14 from his job as a biological science technician at Indiana Dunes National Park. All the years of work Anderson put in - the master's degree, the urban forestry classes, the wildfire deployments - seemed to disappear in a single email dismissing him. He's hoping there's a chance he's called back, but if he isn't, he's not sure what he'll do next. He was so consumed with his firing that he broke a molar from grinding his teeth. But he knows he's caught in something larger than ..

The Tesla factor: Its India entry as a disruptor may have limited impact

The possible game changer could lie in the fact that Tesla reportedly sources components from India worth $1 billion a year

US federal employees file lawsuit against Musk's 'resign or reply' order

Attorneys for federal workers said Monday in a lawsuit that billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk had violated the law with his weekend demand 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 President Donald 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 organisations represented by the group State Democracy Defenders Fund. It ...

Musk's 'resign or reply' order for federal workers gets Trump's meme nod

Trump uses SpongeBob meme to back Musk's 'resign or reply' order, sparking backlash from unions, lawmakers, and federal agencies refusing to comply

US workers confront confusion as Musk's deadline to describe work looms

Confusion and chaos loom as hundreds of thousands of federal employees begin their workweek on Monday facing a deadline from President Donald Trump's cost-cutting chief, Elon Musk, to explain their recent accomplishments or risk losing their jobs. Musk's unusual demand has faced resistance from several key US 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. Trump over the weekend called for Musk to be more aggressive in his cost-cutting crusade through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and posted a meme on social media mocking federal employees who cried about Trump and Elon. Musk's team sent an email to hundreds of thousands of federal employees on Saturday giving them roughly 48 hours to report five specific things they had

Vivek Ramaswamy set to run for Ohio governor, announcement likely tomorrow

This comes a month after Vivek Ramaswamy dropped out of the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) a day after President Donald Trump's inauguration

Trump admin slashes 1,600 USAID jobs, places direct hires on leave

A federal judge ruled in favour of placing thousands of USAID workers on leave, dealing a blow to unions alleging the cuts would dismantle the agency

Elon Musk's Starlink faces Chinese rivals to dominate satellite internet

Starlink has since 2020 launched more satellites into low-Earth orbit (LEO) - an altitude of less than 2,000 km - than all its competitors combined

'Dark MAGA' spreads as conservatives embrace Musk's influence on Trump

At an annual gathering of conservative activists, the signature red Make America Great Again hats popularized by President Donald Trump were interspersed with a noticeable number of the black Dark MAGA hats made popular by Elon Musk. It was just one sign of Musk's emerging influence and how the world's wealthiest man who once backed Democrats Barack Obama and Joe Biden has become a conservative power center in his own right due to his connections to Trump. He is an authentic and unique individual. I am glad he is on the team, said Whitney Mason, a 62-year-old real estate agent who was traveling from Seattle. Musk was an unexpected guest of honour at the Conservative Political Action Conference, with his appearance announced hours before he took the stage wielding a chainsaw. The prop, and his comments, left little subtlety about his role or his influence, days after the Trump administration claimed in court that Musk was not in charge of his signature Department of Government .

Key agencies, including FBI, refuse to comply with Musk's latest demand

Key US agencies, including the FBI and State Department, have instructed their employees not to comply with cost-cutting chief Elon Musk's demand that federal workers explain what they accomplished last week or risk losing their jobs. That resistance has intensified a pervasive sense of chaos and confusion, while highlighting a potential power struggle among President Donald Trump's allies, that is affecting federal employees across the country as a new workweek is about to begin. Musk's team sent an email to hundreds of thousands of federal employees on Saturday giving them roughly 48 hours to report five specific things they had accomplished last week. In a separate message on X, 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. Democrats and even some Republicans were critical of Musk's unusual directive, which came just hours after Trump encouraged him on social media to get more aggressive in reducin

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US federal workers must justify job or risk dismissal, says Elon Musk

The directive was the latest salvo from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to the federal workforce

Yunus invites Musk to visit Bangladesh, launch Starlink satellite service

The statement shared by the Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh on X reads, 'Chief Adviser invites Elon Musk to visit Bangladesh and launch Starlink in 90 working days.'

Kash Patel 'pushes back' against Elon Musk's diktat to federal employees

Elon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency under the Trump administration, asked all federal employees to justify their work or lose their jobs

Elon Musk revives feud with Parag Agrawal amid federal employee crackdown

Elon Musk's clash with Parag Agrawal dates back to his 2022 takeover of Twitter when he ousted the CEO and other top executives

Justice dept heads tell staff not to reply to Musk's demand for job details

At least five DOJ office leaders quickly responded to the HR email-the latest mandate from Musk's government efficiency team-by telling their staff not to detail their work until they receive clarity

Musk gives federal workers 2 days to justify their jobs or risk dismissal

The directive was the latest salvo from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to the federal workforce