Hegseth directs civilian employees to comply with DOGE email directive

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed civilian employees at the Department of Defense to comply with an email directive from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, requiring weekly accomplishment reports.
• Employees were initially advised not to respond to the directive but are now instructed to submit their reports following a review of Pentagon procedures.
• Instructions indicate that employees without immediate email access due to leave or shift work must complete the request within 48 hours of regaining access.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed civilian employees at the Department of Defense to comply with a recent email directive from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. In a post on X, on Sunday, March 2, Hegseth instructed each civilian member to provide five bullet points outlining their accomplishments from the previous week.

Initially, Pentagon officials advised employees not to respond to the first OPM email sent on Feb. 22. However, Hegseth explained in a Sunday post that the directive would proceed following a “review of Pentagon procedures.”

In a short video posted on X, Hegseth informed civilian employees that they would soon receive an email with instructions from their supervisors. These responses are to be compiled into internal reports.

A message from @SecDef on compliance with OPM’s “What You Did Last Week” email directive. pic.twitter.com/ByKyYIYFJV

— Department of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) March 2, 2025

“Our civilian patriots who dedicate themselves to defending this nation working for the Department of Defense are critical to our national security,” Hegseth stated. “As we work to restore focus on DOD’s core warfighting mission under President Trump’s leadership, we recognize that we cannot accomplish that mission without the strong and important contributions of our civilian workforce.”

On Wednesday, Feb. 26, President Donald Trump held his first cabinet meeting, where Elon Musk defended the initial email as a “pulse check.” During the same meeting, Trump mentioned potential steep cuts for the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Education.

The Department of Defense released further instructions on Sunday, sstating that civilian employees without email access for 48 hours following the email’s delivery, due to leave, shift work, or other reasons, are to complete the request within 48 hours of regaining access. Additionally, those who do not typically have email access will work with their supervisors to fulfill the request.