A high-profile employee reporting initiative led by Elon Musk has been officially shut down, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) confirmed Tuesday.
The program, which required federal employees to submit five workplace accomplishments each week – better known as the ‘Five Things’ email faced widespread resistance before being formally rescinded.
The email was introduced in February as part of Musk’s accountability drive, aiming to monitor and streamline federal worker productivity. It was implemented by OPM, the government’s human resources agency, during Musk’s time leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). A memo circulated by OPM this week ended all compliance with the process.
“At OPM, we believe that managers are accountable to staying informed about what their team members are working on and have many other existing tools to do so,” said Director Scott Kupor. He confirmed the agency had notified federal HR teams that the weekly email process would no longer be managed or used internally.
Backlash from workers and agency chiefs
The initiative quickly became one of the most controversial Musk-era policies. The email was met with confusion and frustration across government departments, with some agency leaders reportedly caught off guard by the sudden rollout.
“The five things email” caused significant tension when it was introduced, described as a “weekend email mandating the move.” It created uncertainty among staff “who received mixed messages about whether and how to comply.”
Many departments had already phased out participation before this week’s announcement. Still, the decision marks a clear break from Musk’s influence on federal HR practices, which followed his departure from the administration in May.
Policy fallout from Musk-Trump split
The program’s demise comes amid a deteriorating relationship between Musk and President Trump. Musk had spent over $250 million backing Trump’s re-election campaign and led major workforce and budget-cutting efforts within the administration. Tensions flared in early June, however, after Musk publicly criticized the president’s tax and spending bill, calling it “an abomination.”
In response, Trump rescinded the NASA nomination of Musk ally Jared Isaacman and threatened to cancel federal contracts tied to Musk’s companies, in particular Space X.
OPM Director Scott Kupor, who took over the agency in July, hinted at the program’s end weeks earlier, describing the weekly tracking process as “very manual” and “not efficient.” He questioned its effectiveness, stating it was “something that we should look at and see, like, are we getting the value out of it that at least the people who put it in place thought they were.”
Reuters previously reported that two Trump loyalists were installed at OPM in March to coordinate agency policies more closely with the White House.
