'Great job' or 'no idea what he's doing'? Elon Musk email sets Capitol Hill ablaze

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Democrats in Congress are fighting mad about Elon Musk’s email to federal workers asking them to name five things they accomplished in a week, with one representative saying the DOGE chief’s demands are "illegal" and another claiming Musk "has no idea what he’s doing."

"It's only controversial because it's against the law, and we're a country of laws, so you just have to follow the law," said Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass. told Fox News Digital. "The bottom line is Elon Musk and Trump don't seem to care about following the law, as you and I are expected to follow."

At Musk’s direction, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent an email titled, "What did you do last week?" to federal employees. The message called on workers to submit five accomplishments over the past week or face possible termination.

Lawmakers spoke to Fox News Digital about DOGE. (Fox News Digital)

In response, several federal agency leaders, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, advised employees that compliance with the email was not necessary.

For many, the email represented what they believe to be the new administration’s disregard for the law and the value of federal workers.

DOGE TAKES A CHAINSAW TO FEDERAL SPENDING WITH 7 MAJOR VICTORIES THIS WEEK: 'GOT TO BE DONE'

CEO of Tesla and SpaceX Elon Musk speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel And Convention Center on Feb. 20, 2025, in Oxon Hill, Maryland.  (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

This week, the American Federation of Federal Workers and several other groups launched a lawsuit against the OPM, arguing that the office cannot fire workers who do not comply with the email’s demands.

Fox News Digital spoke with Democrats and Republicans from the House and Senate to ask why the email ended up being so controversial.

"Who is Elon Musk to be sending out something like that?" said Rep. Jesus Garcia, D-Illinois.

WHITE HOUSE FIRES BACK AT PROGRESSIVE FILMMAKER: ‘DUMBEST STATEMENT OF THE YEAR’

"Someone who hasn't been vetted or who hasn't come before Congress trying to intimidate people into doing things they don't want to do. It's illegal. It's probably unconstitutional," he went on. "And that's why workers are pushing back."

Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vermont, said that in her view, "it's clear that Elon Musk has no idea what he's doing."

Balint gives a victory speech on election night on Nov. 8, 2022, in Burlington, Vermont, after being elected Vermont's first woman and first openly gay person to represent Vermont in Congress. (AP/Lisa Rathke)

"He has no idea, he's incompetent," Balint said. "He sends out emails that contradict each other, sometimes within a 24-hour period. He sends out information that contradicts the people that Trump has appointed to be Cabinet secretaries. So, I think the sort of this mystique around him as being some kind of a genius is very quickly being shown to be actually just an illusion."

Musk called the email a "pulse check" to see if any supposed government employees were fraudulently collecting paychecks without actually working. President Donald Trump backed the message, saying it was "great" and that if you don’t answer the email "you’re fired."

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL, D-WA., SLAMS PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP AND ELON MUSK IN ANTI-DEPORTATION REMARKS 

President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Feb. 26, 2025, in Washington, DC.  (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Washington State Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal said the consequences of Musk and DOGE firing anyone who does not reply to email would be significant.  

"The havoc that it would wreak on people to not answer an email and have that constitute termination is extreme for Americans across this country," she told Fox News Digital. "If people can't control air traffic in the skies, it makes Americans unsafe. If veterans don't have staff to actually give them benefits, and federal workers are fired in our National Parks, and Medicaid and Medicare and Social Security means average Americans are not going to get their checks."

"This is not a software company that you can blow up and nobody notices," she went on. "This is the federal government that provides critical benefits to American people everywhere."  

Jayapal said the consequences of Musk and DOGE firing anyone who does not reply to email would be significant.   (Getty Images)

Offering a slightly different take, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said that the email was an example of "cancel culture," and that Musk’s goal was to "have federal employees who are professionals be replaced by loyal minions who won't serve the people."

"His email was all about the cancel culture, canceling professionals in the government, delivering good services, and replacing them with loyalists who have no interest in sustaining the vision of our ‘We the People’ democracy," he said.

Republicans, meanwhile, stood firmly behind DOGE and said Musk’s email was a perfectly reasonable request.

"I think we should be very, very thankful for what Musk is doing," Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. "We've got the most entrenched bureaucracy in all of world history, and if we're actually going to fight back against waste, fraud and abuse, you've got to do things a little bit differently."

'NEW LOW': LONGTIME HOUSE DEM RIPPED FOR 'DISGUSTING' QUESTIONING OF MUSK'S LOYALTY TO US AS AN IMMIGRANT

Rep. Chip Roy speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 29, 2024, in Washington, DC.  (Getty Images)

"Asking federal employees a simple question of, ‘What did you do today? What did you accomplish this past week?' I think it's about as basic as it gets," he went on. "I'm thrilled that he's doing it. I think that every single employee who didn't respond to him the first time should be fired, but they're being gracious and giving them a second chance."

"Bottom line is everybody who works for the government ought to be responsive," said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas.

"I understand why it's disruptive if it's not the way things have been done," he added. "But it's the president who calls the shots, and the president yesterday reiterated that he thought it was important for the people who work for him, who work up through the government to the president to respond to what they're doing."

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CUTTING 90% OF USAID FOREIGN AID CONTRACTS, DOCUMENTS SHOW

Donald Trump, left, and Elon Musk, right (Getty Images)

Roy noted that he believed Musk was "doing a great job with DOGE," and that the average American understands the email, "because they certainly have to answer for what they're doing in their real job."

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"The president has the ability and the determination to decide whether people are upholding their job and doing the work that they're supposed to do and they're hired to do," he explained. "It's kind of sending a shock to the system because it's forcing people to do what they should be doing all the way down the branches of government."

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House's DOGE spokesperson for comment, but did not hear back by press time.