--- title: Musk to Attend First Trump Cabinet Meeting Amid Email Confusion description: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Musk's latest mass email but said agency heads have final say on if workers should respond canonical: https://time.com/7261652/trump-musk-press-secretary/ author: Nik Popli article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-02-25T21:03:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-01-19T19:47:08.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: White House Says Musk Part of Trump's 'Unified Team' as Agencies Undermine Him og:description: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Musk's latest mass email but said agency heads have final say on if workers should respond og:url: https://time.com/7261652/trump-musk-press-secretary/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7768e0051822eb16/6998c46ae2d64be789c5f1c4/GettyImages-2201952659.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Holds Media Briefing og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: White House Says Musk Part of Trump's 'Unified Team' as Agencies Undermine Him twitter:description: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Musk's latest mass email but said agency heads have final say on if workers should respond twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7768e0051822eb16/6998c46ae2d64be789c5f1c4/GettyImages-2201952659.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # White House Says Musk Part of Trump's 'Unified Team' as Agencies Undermine Him > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ea5dbf34-258e-4ba5-a57e-18cb3840a262&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: White House Says Musk Part of Trump’s ‘Unified Team’ as Agencies Undermine Him [Watch (HLS stream): White House Says Musk Part of Trump’s ‘Unified Team’ as Agencies Undermine Him](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EY9DpRBI.m3u8) (3:49)  _Published 2025-02-25. The Trump Administration on Tuesday continued to voice support for Elon Musk’s controversial push to require federal workers to summarize what they accomplished last week or face termination—despite mounting confusion and resistance from even some Trump-appointed agency heads. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that President Trump stands firmly behind the Tesla CEO’s latest directive and defended Musk’s latest email campaign, yet also suggested agency leaders—not Musk—have the last word on whether employees should even bother to respond. The move has already caused significant chaos across federal agencies, with many department heads advising workers to ignore Musk’s directive altogether._  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Updated: Jan 19, 2026 7:47 PM UTCPublished: Feb 25, 2025 9:03 PM UTC The Trump Administration on Tuesday continued to voice support for Elon Musk’s controversial push to require federal workers to summarize what they accomplished last week or face termination—despite mounting confusion and resistance from even some Trump-appointed agency heads. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that President Trump stands firmly behind the Tesla CEO’s latest directive and defended Musk’s latest email campaign, yet also suggested agency leaders—not Musk—have the last word on whether employees should even bother to respond. The move has already caused significant chaos across federal agencies, with many department heads advising workers to ignore Musk’s directive altogether.  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Updated: Jan 19, 2026 7:47 PM UTCPublished: Feb 25, 2025 9:03 PM UTC The Trump Administration on Tuesday continued to voice support for Elon Musk’s controversial push to require federal workers to summarize what they accomplished last week or face termination—despite mounting confusion and resistance from even some Trump-appointed agency heads. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that President Trump stands firmly behind the Tesla CEO’s latest email campaign, yet also suggested agency leaders—not Musk—have the last word on whether employees should even bother to respond. The move has already caused significant chaos across federal agencies, with many department heads advising workers to ignore Musk’s directive altogether. **Read More**: [_Elon Musk Draws Ire Telling Federal Employees to Justify Their Jobs Over Email or Resign_](https://time.com/7260762/elon-musk-federal-employees-email-resignation-threat-criticism/) "The President and Elon and his entire cabinet are working as one unified team and they are implementing these very common sense solutions,” Leavitt told reporters. The email, which was sent to millions of federal employees on Saturday, demanded a quick and detailed account of their work over the past week, with Musk warning on his X platform that non-responders would effectively be considered resigned from their positions. Confusion followed as some departments instructed staff not to comply, citing national security concerns and issues surrounding the disclosure of sensitive information. While Musk had called the directive “common sense,” his mandate quickly sparked a backlash from lawmakers, unions, and even some senior officials within the Trump Administration. The Office of Personnel Management—which is [effectively](https://time.com/7213990/elon-musk-doge-opm/) the federal government’s human resources department—was forced to issue clarifications to agency leaders, acknowledging that responses to Musk’s email were voluntary and that agency heads had the discretion to exempt certain employees. Some agencies appear to have ignored Musk’s mandate entirely. Both Defense Department and State Department employees were [told to ignore](https://www.npr.org/2025/02/24/nx-s1-5307327/musk-federal-workers-email-confusion) the email, NPR reported. Leavitt said that more than one million federal workers have responded to the email, including herself. “It took me about two minutes,” she said. “All federal workers should be working at the same pace that President Trump is working and moving.” While voicing the administration’s unwavering commitment to Musk’s goals, which have already led to the firing of thousands of probationary employees, Leavitt acknowledged that agency leaders had the final say on how their employees should view Musk’s ultimatum. "The President respects the decisions of his Cabinet secretaries to tell their staff not to respond to that email because they did so out of interest of national security,” she said. “The agency heads will determine the best practices for their employees at their specific agencies.” Later in the day, Trump himself further muddied the waters by stating that federal workers who didn't respond to Musk would be fired. “If you don’t answer, I guess you get fired,” he said, adding, “I could tell you five things I did last \[week\], I could tell you five things I did six weeks ago.” Leavitt also confirmed that Musk would attend the first official Cabinet meeting of the Trump Administration on Wednesday—underscoring the role the billionaire and his Department of Government Efficiency now plays in shaping the administration’s direction. “Elon–considering he is working alongside the president and our Cabinet secretaries–this entire administration will be in attendance tomorrow just to talk about DOGE’s efforts and how all of the Cabinet secretaries are identifying waste, fraud, and abuse at their respective agencies,” she said. But asked who is the DOGE administrator—a question that has come up in legal proceedings around DOGE’s actions—Leavitt said, “I'm not going to reveal the name of that individual from this podium.” **Read More:** [_Musk Says Federal Workers Who Didn’t Respond to Email About Job Will Be Given ‘Another Chance’ Before Being Fired_](https://time.com/7261317/musk-email-federal-workers-job-accomplishments-ultimatum-fired-departments-agencies/) Trump has sought to downplay any apparent disconnect between Musk and federal agencies. Speaking from the Oval Office on Monday, the President suggested that the only exceptions to Musk’s email were coming from agency heads that had concerns about national security implications, like the FBI and State Department. “They don’t mean that in any way combatively, with Elon. They’re just saying there’s some people that you don’t want to really have them tell you what they’re working on last week,” Trump said. “Other than that, everyone thought it was a pretty ingenious idea.” Musk also downplayed concerns about his email, which was sent out over the weekend after Trump publicly called on him to be more aggressive in his efforts. “Absurd that a 5 min email generates this level of concern!” Musk wrote on X. “Something is deeply wrong.” Some critics, including government watchdogs and congressional Democrats, argue that Musk’s efforts are part of a broader agenda to slash the federal workforce with little regard for how it impacts government functions. “This stunt is yet another example of the cruel and arbitrary chaos Mr. Musk inflicts on the American people by carelessly ‘taking a chainsaw’ to the people’s government,” wrote Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, and dozens of House Democrats in a letter to federal agency leaders. ## Transcript [00:00] The presidents sent out a truce last weekend to Elon Musk, [00:03] saying he loves everything Elon is doing and he [00:06] wants him to be even more aggressive because [00:08] Doge thus far has proven incredibly successful in making our government more efficient. [00:13] And so Elon and Doge came up with this idea. [00:16] Elon has implemented this at his private companies. [00:18] It has proven successful. [00:20] And it's a very simple idea when you think about it all. [00:23] The Office of Personnel Management is asking all this administration is asking. [00:27] President Trump is asking is for federal workers who live off of [00:31] the American taxpayer's dime to send [00:33] five bullet points of what they have done in the previous week. [00:37] That is all we are asking for. [00:39] And so the Office of Personnel and Management sent out additional guidance last night. [00:43] Those responses should be directed to agency leadership. [00:46] And the president defers to his cabinet secretaries, [00:49] who he's obviously entrusted to pursue the guidance relative to their specific workforce. [00:55] And for some of the agencies that you've seen who have said, [00:57] please don't send these emails, [00:58] it's in their best interest for that specific agency, [01:01] and the president supports that. [01:02] And let me be very clear, [01:04] the president and Elon is his entire cabinet are working as one unified team, [01:09] and they are implementing these very common sense solutions. [01:12] We advise federal workers, [01:14] unless your agency has dictated you not to to respond to this email? [01:18] In fact, I can announce that we've had more than 1 million workers [01:22] who have chosen to participate in this very simple task of, [01:25] again, sending five bullet points to your direct supervisor or manager seeking OPM. [01:31] I actually participated it in myself. [01:33] It took me about a minute and a half to think of five things I did last week. [01:37] I do five things in about ten minutes, [01:39] and all federal workers should be working at [01:41] the same pace that President Trump is working and moving. [01:43] We have a country to save, [01:45] and we want this federal government to be responsive to the needs of [01:48] the American people who reelected this president to have historic, massive reform. [01:52] And that's what the intention of this idea is. [01:54] Is Elon Musk going to attend the president's first cabinet meeting tomorrow? [01:58] He is. As a matter of fact, [01:59] I spoke to the president about that before coming down here as well. [02:02] And Elon, considering he is working alongside the president and our cabinet secretaries, [02:08] this this entire administration will be in attendance tomorrow just to [02:12] talk about DOJ's efforts and how all of the cabinet secretaries are identifying waste, [02:17] fraud and abuse at their respective agencies. [02:19] We look forward to the meeting tomorrow, [02:20] and I think you'll be hearing from [02:22] the president and his cabinet where they're on campus tomorrow. [02:24] I hope you guys are excited. So some of. [02:26] Those cabinet members were caught off guard by the email from Saturday. [02:31] A few departments said they were caught off guard. [02:33] The FBI was the DOJ was the. [02:36] Anonymous sources say that, [02:37] or did the cabinet secretary say. [02:39] That the cabinet Secretary is. [02:40] And others have said that they were not aware that this was happening. [02:43] So I'm wondering, like, will there be a give and take tomorrow at the cabinet meeting? [02:47] Is Elon Musk or the president open to any type of dialogue about who [02:51] is actually in charge of the chain of command of these workers? [02:55] I would reject the premise of your question, Jeff. [02:58] The cabinet secretaries have not said that. [03:00] I know anonymous sources, [03:01] probably career bureaucrats have leaked that to many of you in this room. [03:04] But as I said at the beginning of this press conference, [03:06] everybody is working as one team, [03:08] and the president respects the decisions of his cabinet secretaries to tell his staff, [03:12] their staff not to respond to that email, [03:15] because they did so out of interest of national security. [03:18] And they don't want to obviously risk confidential information. [03:21] It's pretty common sense. [03:22] I've been asked and answered this question. [03:24] Elon Musk is overseeing Doge. [03:26] There are career officials. [03:27] There are no Elon Musk is a special government employee, [03:30] which I've also been asked and have answered that question as well. [03:33] There are career officials at Doge. [03:36] There are political appointees at Doge. [03:38] I'm not going to reveal the name of that individual from this podium. [03:41] I'm happy to follow up and provide that to you. [03:44] But we've been incredibly transparent about the way that Doge is working. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7261652/trump-musk-press-secretary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7261652/trump-musk-press-secretary/"},"headline":"White House Says Musk Part of Trump's 'Unified Team' as Agencies Undermine Him","datePublished":"2025-02-25T21:03:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-01-19T19:47:08.000Z","description":"\"The President and Elon and his entire cabinet are working as one unified team\"","url":"https://time.com/7261652/trump-musk-press-secretary/","keywords":["Trump Administration","News Desk","News desk edits"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7768e0051822eb16/6998c46ae2d64be789c5f1c4/GettyImages-2201952659.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nik Popli","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/nik-popli/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7768e0051822eb16/6998c46ae2d64be789c5f1c4/GettyImages-2201952659.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Holds Media Briefing","caption":"White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Holds Media Briefing","creditText":"Alex Wong—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/trump-administration/","name":"Trump Administration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7261652/trump-musk-press-secretary/","name":"White House Says Musk Part of Trump's 'Unified Team' as Agencies Undermine Him"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"White House Says Musk Part of Trump’s ‘Unified Team’ as Agencies Undermine Him","description":"The Trump Administration on Tuesday continued to voice support for Elon Musk’s controversial push to require federal workers to summarize what they accomplished last week or face termination—despite mounting confusion and resistance from even some Trump-appointed agency heads. 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