— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 25, 2025
As Trump put it: "A lot of people are not answering because they don't even exist." The email is a test that at least separates everyone into 2 groups, those who answered and those who did not answer. Among those who did not answer is some number of employees who are simply not there at all. "That's how badly" the government is run, Trump asserts.
Some who don't answer could still exist, but at least the nonexistent workers would be concentrated among the nonanswerers. (An answer could come "from" a nonexistent worker could answer by fraud.)
Posts
125 comments:
Exactly!
One ping only, with five bullet points. Any nonresponse is assumed to have been delivered to a black hole... whore h/t NAACP. The hostile reaction was typical of a privileged class and its patrons in a kleptocracy. Throw another baby on the barbie, it's over. #WeKnow
"What did you do last week" is a question that most Americans face at work. If government workers take umbrage at that question, it reveals another face of the problem in the government.
It’s a little bit tangential, but back when my son worked for SSA a guy died at his desk and no one noticed until the next morning.
And the answers will doubtless be parsed by AI
This 'test' ignores that people might be on leave, in the field, or not responding for legit reasons.
Firing people based on poor information is crazy, there is no way for OPM to know if these bullet points are fictional or not.
I am guessing that those department heads that have already been cleared by the Senate, as assuming control of their areas of responsibility. That makes sense - they will administer their 'bullet point' requirements in their own way, to suit their leadership. Since DOGE's specialty is with coding, my guess is that any replies to the question will not just be checked for content, but will also be checked for where and what device they were pinged from, if there are any questions.
The boss (President Trump) is asking. His employees should answer. And yes, fire people for non-response.
This request shouldn’t be too difficult a task to accomplish and the obvious consternation, mutiny and combative responses to the request is telling. These public employees needed a wake-up call, a rude awakening and an exhortation to smell the catfood of the Real World.
Trump is spouting 100% ignorant bullsh*t and wishful thinking.
Federal workers -- as now in the office full time -- have security badges. Those badges get scanned at the entrance and are used to log on to government-issued computers.
To obtain a federal employee or contractor security badge, one must present multiple forms of ID, have their picture taken, and generally undergo a crime and finance check. Those in National Security positions (i.e., military, CIA, etc.) must report foreign travel, foreign contacts, foreign family, etc. too.
The security staff at the doors to government buildings see the stored photo upon entrance to the building, verifying that the person is who they say they are. A computer plugged into an internal government intranet reports it location as in a specific government building.
There IS ZERO UNCERTAINTY about who is an active worker and where they are working.
I've been critical of what looked too harsh and unnecessarily scary Why? Accountability is common in the private sector. Sales people have to turn in lists of cold calls and contacts they have made to show they are not sitting on their asses to collect just the salary and draw. Manufacturing employees on shop floors are expected to make rate and HAVE TO report in every single shift. Even students are given assignments with deadlines and have to pass tests. Construction contractors have to meet cost targets and deadlines or they get charge backs.
Why does the public sector become so offended at the idea of reporting output? It strongly suggests that if you look behind the curtain there isn't a whole lot getting done. Kush jobs. Waste of money.
Does this lack of accountability permeate universities too?
It's evident Mark didn't bother to view the video or read Ann's brief post, but that didn't deter him from inaccurately portraying the content.
Among those who did not answer is some number of employees who are simply not there at all. "That's how badly" the government is run, Trump asserts.
Why don't you point out that there is absolutely no proof that this assertion is true. He just pulled this out of his own, or Musk's, ass.
A word on "the gold":
I have been a private PM investor for almost 15 years and the first thing people should know is the vast majority of America's gold (and that of many - if not most - other nations) is in the vaults under the Federal Reserve Bank in NYC. Second, it is not enough - never enough - to simply 'open vault doors' and look inside. There must be a full inventory of serial numbers and a random physical or x-ray assay of all American bullion wherever it is stored, a complicated process that is still very worthwhile doing. I say this because there have been numerous cases since gold's meteoric rise of sovereign bullion caches of many nations being contaminated with tungsten, failed assays for purity, and just out-and-out loss.
Every gold bar on earth receives a serial number that is deliberately registered after pouring, is traceable, and is extremely difficult to counterfeit by simply aggregating and recasting.
All of Americas gold better be where it is registered and catalogued, or there will be fucking hell to pay.
I originally thought this e-mail was to discover those who may be working 2 jobs and calling each full-time. Then I saw a stat on how many govt employees weren't checking their e-mail for months but were supposedly working daily. Most recently it was suggested to me that a significant number of these employees don't exist at all and are scamming the government outright.
What a sad spectacle. Pathetic.
“There IS ZERO UNCERTAINTY about who is an active worker and where they are working.”
So, it should not be a problem complying with a SIMPLE FUCKING REQUEST.
This was an extremely simple and extremely inexpensive way to find "Ghost employees". I'd assumed Federal Government controls were too strong for them to exist, but I no longer assume that.
Again, this is not 100% accurate way to find them - just a beginning. And too bad Trump didn't let his cabinet in on the secret.
Regarding Trump's pending visit to Ft. Knox, I half expect the vault to be empty with a hand-written IOU from Joe Biden.
Then they should have NO problem answering the email Enigma, right?? Since they are there working?? What's the problem? They think they are above answering to the boss?
They haven't found hundreds of billions of fraud either. More bullshit in a minute and a half clip.
The reason people were upset, at least one reason, was people thought this was going to be a weekly "Lets justify our jobs to Elon" program. And then would come firings. Now, people can relax and just answer.
Enigma said...
Federal workers -- as now in the office full time -- have security badges. Those badges get scanned at the entrance and are used to log on to government-issued computers....There IS ZERO UNCERTAINTY about who is an active worker and where they are working.
There is plenty of uncertainty seeing as Federal employees haven't been to the office since COVID started and pushed to keep the stay at home privilege going forever. Educators pushed for the same keeping schools closed and damaging children for their own selfishness.
They only ones we know show up for work are the FBI agents wearing khaki's and white ski masks pretending to be white nationalists.
The chasm between the private and public sector is huge. Let the public sector bitch and moan while they find out what the real world is like. Boo-hoo.
The sense of entitlement these assholes have is mind blowing. Join the Real World. Get real.
They think they are above answering to the boss?
Elon Musk is not the boss.
Oh, lets about talk gold then. The Gold should be there, if it isnt - thats a problem. Its a first step, that's all.
"They haven't found hundreds of billions of fraud either. More bullshit in a minute and a half clip."
Every single dollar given to Ukraine counts as fraud Fredo. Checkmate rube.
Something like 3 million people work for the federal government. Who's going to read all those emails?
At Oso Negro said, an AI will parse the responses. As Aggie mentioned, metadata can be gleaned from the response.
Some percentage of employees won't respond out of some kind of civil disobedience. FAFO will apply.
Part of Musk's email is to emphasize that federal workers are employees, and will do what they as instructed, or won't be federal workers anymore.
Ann, one day you will have to acknowledge you fell for this obvious bull shit. I look forward to that humiliation.
There IS ZERO UNCERTAINTY about who is an active worker and where they are working.
Even if they never show up at the government building, and "work" from home?
@Iman and @wendybar: See my comments about poor OPM data security in the overnight post. Several TRUMP CABINET MEMBERS instructed their staff to not repond to OPM.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5161948-trump-musk-opm-email-backlash/
This event reeks of Musk & Trump going off on their own without a clue. Many Republicans are criticizing it.
They are just getting started, Fredo @10:40AM.
As usual, the freakout reactions tell you all you need to know.
I hope Pussy Galore is flying air cover for Trump's visit.
BTW, you can't fire a civil servant for not answering an Outside the agency email. But dream and rant on.
Non-existent employées (who are still drawing a paycheck) has become a thing since the COVID-era work remote mandates--extended up till now in the non-profit and government sectors. One of my former partners who is a federal tax lawyer told me recently that he has not seen any IRS actions (communications, responses, etc.) on audits that were under way in 2020 since the COVID work from home mandates. Trump's back to office order a month ago is one step at identifying these phantom employees, but Musk's idea of an email requiring an immediate response describing actions taken is an even quicker way to smoke out the problem.
Stop making excuses for the lack of reality and sense of entitlement, Enigma. Let the chips fall where they may. Productive employees should have nothing to worry about.
@Gusty Winds: "There is plenty of uncertainty seeing as Federal employees haven't been to the office since COVID started"
This is an obsolete assumption per the return-to-work requirement. I worked with...basket-case..federal employees a long time before COVID started. They were generally very reliable in following the rules and coming to work to collect their checks. Accurate time and attendance reporting was and remains a very serious federal topic.
These employees were sometimes overpaid, lazy, and had bad attitudes, but come to work they did.
@Iman: Discuss this with Trump's secretaries Gabbard, Hegseth, Rubio, and Patel and their instructions to NOT ANSWER before you go off half-cocked.
“Elon Musk is not the boss.”
Elon is working this as requested by the Commander-in-Chief. The executive of the Executive Branch. The Boss.
The directive may be unusual, but there is nothing “harsh” about it. Asking people to document what they did on the job the previous week? Five things? Answered the phone? Read a memo? Wrote a memo? Filed a document? Tough stuff!
Lefties like Mark who oppose this stuff are confirming our suspicions. BTW, Enigma, it isn’t true that all federal employees have security badges.
A. Simple. Fucking. Request.
The pushback does not speak well of these people.
Any federal employee with some ambition could use this opportunity to be one of the first to reply, and list 10 or 15 things they accomplished. But I guess we can't expect libs to root for the ambitious when they are so busy feeling sorry for the corrupt and lazy.
lmao
“Everyone is working together as one unified team at the direction of President Trump,” said Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary. “Any notion to the contrary is completely false.”
Tell that to Kash Patel and the others who told their people not to respond. Who are we supppsed to believe, Patel or Leavitt?
"Elon is working this as requested by the Commander-in-Chief. The executive of the Executive Branch. The Boss."
They know this is true Iman but they can't acknowledge it because the truth of it destroys their entire argument. Instead what the Fredos and Inags and kacklestocracies will do is stop beating this dead horse with sticks and switch to sledgehammers until the horse is a very finely produced boutique glue they can use to cobble the same argument back together on this blog every day, all day, until the end of days.
Regarding Trump's pending visit to Ft. Knox, I half expect the vault to be empty with a hand-written IOU from Joe Biden.
And how much is that little circus going to cost? Trump wasted somewhere around $75 million for his trips to the Superbowl and Daytona 500.
You mean THIS OPM data security?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Personnel_Management_data_breach
Also, personal experience: In 1990, I was sent a test file by the Navy. It turned out to contain names, service numbers, and SSN, for about a quarter million service members. We were totally unauthorized to have those records. There's never Bern any real security on such data.
Enigma said...This is an obsolete assumption per the return-to-work requirement.
So you think all the payrolls are now cleaned up? You're dreaming.
It's amazing. We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to clean up the bullshit we know exists. The poor and the middle class have been doggy paddling for years, while the public sector looks down from their Ivory Tower.
We've gone from forever wars to forever jobs. Even US postal workers today are bitching and moaning about modernizing and becoming efficient.
"RCOCEAN II said...
The reason people were upset, at least one reason, was people thought this was going to be a weekly "Lets justify our jobs to Elon" program. And then would come firings. Now, people can relax and just answer."
And why shouldn't it be done weekly. We had weekly performance reports throughout the company all the way up to the top.
"And how much is that little circus going to cost?"
Germany and Brazil just did a sovereign assay within the last 2 years which - keeping in mind their substantially smaller holdings - cost them around $50 million/ea. Considering America has approximately 261,508,100 troy ounces in gold alone for an approx value at today's spot of $760,204,046,700, I'm going to say a $1 billion full sovereign assay cost is a bargain...
...if it's all still there of course.
Enigma if a fedeal worker is working remotely at home, he or she don't need no steenkin security badge to check in at their home computer. So that stuff about the security badge will show you where the employee is is pretty weak sauce on your part. Or course the employee might not bother to sit down at their home computer and take a "mental health day" at the beach. I know of one federal employee who took a lot of mental health days at the beach. All those days didn't make Joe Biden any smarter.
I feel left out, I keep hoping to get emailed like this one, or the DRP one, but they never come. Guess active duty need not apply. Funny thing is, my wife is a gov't contractor, not fed employee, and she gets them.
Some people get stressed when they get these. I get stressed when I don't because it means the nameless, faceless OPM bureaucracy doesn't care about me. Guess I'll go eat worms...long, thin tiny ones, short fat juicy ones...
Then I saw a stat on how many govt employees weren't checking their e-mail for months but were supposedly working daily. Most recently it was suggested to me that a significant number of these employees don't exist at all and are scamming the government outright.
Can you tell us where you saw these stats or suggested that there are ghost employees.
More bullshit if you can't.
Yes, Gusty Winds @10:52AM… an intelligent, motivated, productive employee might see this exercise as a golden opportunity. And act on it.
The Bitcher-Moaners are in dire need of an attitude adjustment.
Hey, here's an idea. You know what all those federal workers who're trying to figure out ways to prove their value can do to keep their jobs? They can help with the assay!
It'll be good for them too. Gold is heavy. When they're done they'll all look like absolute units and will probably have a better esteem of themselves.
Doesn’t seem like the left cares much about finding out if fed employees are robbing us. Do they like being robbed, or is this that empathy thing they’re practicing? It can’t be that the people claiming Trump is a con man actually are ok with being conned, can it?
@Skeptical Voter: "Enigma if a fedeal worker is working remotely at home, he or she don't need no steenkin security badge to check in at their home computer."
Wrong. Those government laptops and badges were used at home too.
There are indeed too many government employees and many are grossly overpaid and lazy. I never disputed that. I've witnessed the culture in person, so all this ignorant nonsense mainly reveals how Trump and Musk are missing the point and actionable paths forward.
Elon Musk is not the boss.
He didn't send the email either. You guys (Mark and Freder especially) are awfully slow to get it: Musk comes up with ideas that Trump, if he approves, has the proper person implement.
And if you are still that ignorant at this late date, then it explains the clueless shit you two post over and over. Especially Mark in this regard: someone on "leave" would be super easy to cross-check with responses, and if you'd read anything at all about the process you could comment intelligently for a change.
Dude1394@10:58AM… YES! This shouldn’t be a difficult task, it should be welcomed as an opportunity to ensure that the people in your chain of command have evidence of your value.
Again, Real World vs. Government Employment.
Wasn’t this obvious from the start? One would have to be motivated only to look at the negatives of Elon’s actions not to see that.
[as Toby introduces Holly to Creed]
Creed Bratton: The pleasure's all mine.
Holly Flax: Thanks. I'm really looking forward to sitting down with you and finding out more about what you do here.
Creed Bratton: Any time.
Holly Flax: Yeah. What do you do here?
Creed Bratton: [long pause] Excuse me.
Creed Bratton: [to camera crew in the kitchen] What is wrong with this woman? She's asking about stuff that's nobody's business. What do I do? Really, what do I do here? I should have written it down. Qua-something. Qua... Quar... Qua... Qual... Quar... Quabity. Quabity assuance. No, no, no, no, but I'm getting close.
The best employees who can easily find good jobs in the private sector will leave public service rather than put up with this shit, which I guess is the intent? This may come back to bite trump is his ample ass.
‘Gavin Newsom welcomes an audit of California’s high-speed rail project from President Trump, but is concerned about taxpayers getting “audit fatigue”.’
There’s a lot of this phony handwringing and complaining going around… fucking bullshit artists dominate the left.
Yeah, thought it was a simple Ping check to see if they were even still around.
@Freder 10:36: "...Why don't you point out that there is absolutely no proof that this assertion is true. He just pulled this out of his own, or Musk's, ass. ...."
Oh. Unlike you - eh, Freder?
“Wasn’t this obvious from the start? One would have to be motivated only to look at the negatives of Elon’s actions not to see that”
It’s kind of like looking at Musk’s black MAGA hat and immediately inferring something bad. Maybe these are the good guys?
Fredo said that… without evidence, Aggie!
Jim5301, really? Sure, best employees might bail for other opportunities, but the idea that there will be less status / progress reporting (some of which is inevitably going to feel like a bullshit request) in the private sector is ludicrous.
US stocks slide as consumer confidence sinks most in four years ~ Financial Times
Ok, this was the first month. Now let’s Make America Even Greater! 🤡
Musk on stage with a chainsaw was the ultimate sell signal.
On the bright side, Tesla's market cap is now down by about $500bn and $80bn just today.
"jim5301 said...
The best employees who can easily find good jobs in the private sector will leave public service rather than put up with this shit, which I guess is the intent?"
LOL They would already be in the public sector.
Musk comes up with ideas that Trump, if he approves, has the proper person implement.
Really?! Sounds like more bullshit to me. You have anything that backs up your assertion. Because, considering the varied responses by different agencies and departments, this memo was not sent out with any coordination with them.
Which is it, does Trump not know what the hell Musk is doing or is Trump just a really crappy manager? It has to be one or the other.
Many of us have to submit timesheets which are invoiced to a client for all worked performed. We know what we did last week because there are time records. This should not be a hard question for anyone who is actually working. I cannot respect the mindset of anyone who says they cannot or should not say what they are doing all day when they are getting paid.
"The best employees who can easily find good jobs in the private sector will leave public service rather than put up with this shit, which I guess is the intent? This may come back to bite trump is his ample ass."
God I hope so. I'm so through with the private sector privately taking profits while they publicize the risk. Why don't they just take the publicized public employees too while they're at it.
If those people can produce in the private sector that's actually better for the economy. But my guess is a lot more of them can't than you think so...that is after all why they went into the public sector, and they're going to get a rude awakening from a bunch of carnivores with years if not decades of lead on them.
So long and good bye, and get crackin' quick...
All the bitching and moaning shows just how detached the liberal public sector is from the reality of the private sector that feeds them. Where was all this sympathy for the working class during COVID?
I'm all for trimming excess fat, it should be done with every new adminsitration. But this seems like a silly gimmick and a distraction.
Idea for next silly gimmick - give New Mexico a more patriotic name.
"Where was all this sympathy for the working class during COVID?"
We couldn't hear their sympathy because they had 3 layers of surgical masks on.
Trump is confronting waste, fraud, abuse, and DEI on diverse flanks, keeping the kleptocracy off balance and braying loudly.
Yes, the shutdown of the economy during the Sino-Fauci pandemic, immigration reform, Obamacares, etc. Today's class shaming is as viable as race, sex, transgender (e.g. homosexual), etc shaming has evolved with progress.
To paraphrase the modern military industrial philosopher Rumsfeld, we go to war against the bureaucratic state with the army we have, not the army we wished we had.
IMO it's common for databases to do a good job at capturing new dat, but a terrible job at deleting old data. It makes sense--there's usually no cost to a vendor to maintaining a record, while doing hygene and purging records is costly. So I'd expect a lot of non-responses to be dead or retired people. Another group would be people who never check their spam folder--i.e. never before received an email directly from OPM.
Well. We know for sure that Mark and Freder are afraid for their jobs.
Freder. You know, of course, Musk doesn't really fire anyone. He makes his recommendations to the White House and the White House firs them.
Anyway. Here's to you and Mark losing your jobs. Hope you stole enough while you were employed.
@Enigma;"There IS ZERO UNCERTAINTY about who is an active worker and where they are working."
I have reason to know that this is not true. It would be true of people with security clearances, working onsite.
This type of chicken shit public sector whining makes it more infuriating to pay taxes. I'm sure the large majority of the private sector is offended by this "poor me" attitude. Grow up. We have whiney children working for the gov't and wasting our tax money.
I'm still marveling over the "resistance" some people have with rooting out corruption. Calling it "a constitution crisis" is reckless political rhetoric, but falls in the bucket of misinformation that Democrats continue to vomit up. Everything Trump does must be described as "chaotic, dangerous, a crisis, or a threat to democracy" because when your favorability is just 22%, calm and rational won't do.
When Clinton rolled out his "reinventing government" initiative, he got bipartisan support, and it was staffed by 400 people from within the bureaucracy, and they "saved" $146 billion.
It’s a little bit tangential, but back when my son worked for SSA a guy died at his desk and no one noticed until the next morning.
Is he still getting a paycheck?
Some people are getting political mileage out of opposing the email, but federal workers prepare stuff like this all the time. I also have weekly, biweekly, monthly, and quarterly reporting. It's not a big deal.
A lot of the political appointees are pushing back because they want to portray their department's work as highly sensitive.
As for catching employees who don't check their email, one has to also assume that these employees don't read any news and have not paid any attention to the new administration. That seems likely to be very few people.
I have no idea what is meant by federal workers "who don't exist." Creating fictitious payroll entries -- and fake bank accounts into which to deposit the funds -- is a serious crime. Even if Trump just means employees who left but weren't taken off the payroll, that's likely to be quite rare. The government has elaborate exit procedures, and managers have every incentive to police against ghost employees, because carrying fake employees limits them from hitting new ones. Plus it's still a crime.
I think once the employees who fail to answer the 5 points email, after they receive a subsequent email that THEY ARE FIRED, will certainly answer _that_ email. Bwhahahahha
Some grew far too fond of tele-tanning and tele-fishing. Some may not even exist.
Freder Frederson said...
"Can you tell us where you saw these stats or suggested that there are ghost employees. More bullshit if you can't."
Say's old Mr. Drive by.
n.n said...
"One ping only..."
The scene: The USS Dallas and the USS White House come to periscope depth off the eastern seaboard and eye each other warily.
RYAN (not April) aboard the Dallas scribbles a note and hands to the captain of the Dallas to transmit to the White House in Morse code.
American government told us you intend
to destroy the government. stop.
We believe you intend to cut waste and fraud. stop.
If the latter, ping a memo once.
CAPTAIN TRUMPIUS is aboard the White House with Capt Elon Musk and Bulwark kommisar Bill Kristol there as well. Trumpius reads the message and sits back in his seat in front of the Resolute Desk.
TRUMPIUS
Verify the memo one more time.
(brief pause)
Ping one time only.
Billy "Bulwark" Kristol
But Captain, we're moving to fast! if we just---
Trumpius
Give me a sounding, Billy. One memo only
(Elon nods and goes to work)
"I think once the employees who fail to answer the 5 points email, after they receive a subsequent email that THEY ARE FIRED, will certainly answer _that_ email. Bwhahahahha"
The Bobs: "So we found one employee...a Milton Waddams, who apparently was fired in the last round of efficiency cuts but an accounting error meant that he was still getting a paycheck"
Bill Lumbergh: "So what are we going to do, fire him again?"
The Bobs: "No we just fixed the error and he'll stop receiving a paycheck so our thoughts are this problem will fix itself."
“Well. We know for sure that Mark and Freder are afraid for their jobs.”
Let’s hope they aren’t employed by the federal government… they’d be guilty of shitposting on the taxpayers’ dime.
@Enigma; "Wrong. Those government laptops and badges were used at home too."
I have one of those government laptops, and a badge. I use it here in my house. But I'm guessing it would work just fine down at the local tavern, too.
“No, I don’t trust the government. If the Executive Branch has limited control over the bureaucracy, and if Congress and the Judiciary are compromised by conflicts of interest driven by NGOs, then governance is no longer by “We The People.”
Instead, it has become a self-serving global power struggle—a Game of Thrones rather than a republic.”
—— Data Republican
I don't think Mark works for government, and I am fairly sure that Freder doesn't work at all. Permanent disability, is my guess. Of the mental sort.
It does rather seem as if this would not do what Trump is saying it was designed to do. Some of you may recall, that in the Spring of 1944, General Patton was assigned to command a non-existent army in Britain, complete with phony tanks and simulated radio traffic. I'm sure Mark and Freder would have complained bitterly at the pointless waste, had they been alive. Enigma would have explained that those radios were using the wrong frequencies.
The current complaints re performance appraisal remind me of the saying: "The flak is thickest when you are over the target."
The email and subsequent reaction to it were the test.The details are irrelevant.
I wonder how many federal workers have no reason to check their work email every day or don’t even have a work email. We all envision feds sitting behind computers all day, but …
What about groundskeepers and janitors?
What about nurses and nurses aids?
What about privates in the army?
Musk called it a "pulse check."
It's simply a roll call. The panic is revealing.
Hilarious 😂 Trump claims the Biden administration was a little shop of horrors, but at least the eggs were cheaper by the dozen. 😉
Well. We know for sure that Mark and Freder are afraid for their jobs.
That is the problem with Rusty and a bunch of Althouse commenters, you "know for sure" things for which are completely untrue or there is no way whether they are true or not.
At least Althouse always adds enough weasel words that she can later say "that is not what I meant".
"Where was all this sympathy for the working class during COVID?"
There was zero sympathy. There was only celebration when someone unvaccinated died of Covid. All the little restaurants that went under, all the relatives who wanted to visit their loved ones in hospitals - zero sympathy.
...but at least the eggs were cheaper by the dozen. 😉
That was before Biden sent half the hens to the gas chambers.
Find this hilarious. Trump and Musk are having the time of their lives. They appear to be most often a couple steps ahead of their opposition. Do we really have a problem here? This was a quick and dirty way to find out.
These federal employees sort themselves into two categories: real and questionable. The proportion of each is important. I would expect at least 5% might be on leave at any time. Several percent may be in the hospital. Others may have taken a leave of absence (I took one to finish my MBA when I was at Census). There should, of course, be electronic records for them, which can be cross tabulated, and then probably moved to the Real category. Also maybe eliminate those whose job categories don’t require email. What do you have left? 1%? 10%? 25%? We just don’t know at this point. Then start digging into the Maybes.
“At least Althouse always adds enough weasel words that she can later say "that is not what I meant".”
My partner hates it when I use weasel words. Her daughter interjects “allegedly” into our discussions for its humor value. Not the least surprising that Ann does the same. It’s just our training.
Freder Frederson said...
"Can you tell us where you saw these stats or suggested that there are ghost employees. More bullshit if you can't."
Well, how else are you going to find this out? This is a good, very cheap, first cut at figuring out if there is a problem
Headline in my Google News feed early this morning:
"Gettysburg Military Park workers lose their jobs to federal cuts"
Detail in the article: "The Hanover Evening Sun reported that five probationary workers, who were hired within the last year, were fired between the Gettysburg National Military Park and the Eisenhower National Historic Site, according to one of those workers, Nathaniel Bauder.
Four employees were cut from the battlefield, while one employee, a curator, was terminated from the Eisenhower National Historic Site, Bauder said."
I had to work from home to care for my wife about 6 months before Covid struck. Every week I had to email my boss detailing everything I worked on and how many hours each task took. Had to add up to at least 40 hours. Typically it was closer to 50. I'd actually hate to work in a job where I couldn't think of 5 worthwhile things I did in a week. I don't handle boredom well.
...all the relatives who wanted to visit their loved ones in hospitals - zero
I spent eight days incarcerated in Covid Area of hospital. Didn't have Covid. Every test known to medical science (short of autopsy) performed multiple times. Over 20 in all.
NEGATIVE.
I had serious case of pneumonia. So, naturally, I was admitted and treated as "suspected Covid" patient (Mo' money ?).
The CAT Scan guy laughed after my second encounter (and said my pheumonia was improving. My main concern was edema so I tried moving around and doing breathing exercises and breathing without oxygen assist to extent possible.
The nurse in charge got very angry with me for not following the Covid patient protocols and moved to reapply my oygen assist. I made it clear that if she touched me I was going to touch her back. More threats were exchanged. I did not see her again.
Based on monitoring of my vitals, if became obvious that my lung function had improved enough to go home. The admitting physician said there was no record of oxygen levels improving and they were keeping me for the good of myself and others.
So, being the clever devil that I am, every time my vitals were taken the next two days, I took a picture of the read-out with my phone. Confronted with this evidence, I was released with objection the next morning.
I had NO contact with my family during this period and they were clueless about my condition or treatment. I was still weak as hell when I got in the car with two family members but I wept with relief. I didn't fear death but I did fear dying among strangers who didn't give a shit about me.
Many in the medical profession disgraced that profession during Covid. Anytime you suspect your well-being is not your doctor's first priority - get another doctor. I know - almost impossible during Covid. FWIW, never vaccinated. Did use Ivermectin obtained from DVM who tailored dosage to my physical characteristics.
Left Bank: ref legions of non-email-using feds:
Groundskeepers/janitors: They still have to do timesheets every two weeks to get paid. They would go to a common workstation to do that, and would probably also look at their email in the process. By weird coincidence, a pay period ended this past Saturday the 22nd, and timecards have to be certified by the timekeeper by the end of today the 25th, which means most offices probably required workers to submit their timesheets last Thurs 20 or Fri 21 (yes, you predict your last couple days' hours each pay period, which could make your timesheet a technical lie, but you do have the chance to correct it before it gets certified).
Nurses/aides: In the modern medical world, they probably spend more time on a computer than on a patient. Automated medical records and all that. Nearly every patient of a federal doc has insurance issues to sort out, with all that billing code jazz.
Army privates: I don't think the email went out to military members.
And in all agencies, supervisors and managers certainly got the email, and had a duty to make sure all their workers got the word and had the means to comply.
JSM
Enigma said...
Federal workers -- as now in the office full time -- have security badges. Those badges get scanned at the entrance and are used to log on to government-issued computers....There IS ZERO UNCERTAINTY about who is an active worker and where they are working.
Tell me you have no clue without telling me you have no clue.
I show up to work and walk into the boiler plant through whichever entrance I choose. Have a brief contact relief with the shift I'm relieving, and sometimes see one or sometimes even 2 other employees. Who are gone within a half hour. Then about 8 hours plus or minus a few minutes- or 12 three days a week now since we don't have enough boiler operators to run a plant 24/7/365 and haven't for a while, see my relief for a brief contact relief. I'm supposed to check email daily and usually do. All of it is official email, and most of it is junk that doesn't pertain to me or my job, but sent out to everyone who works at the facility.
In the main buildings- there are no security guards to walk past. Not sure of the number of police- not security guards- police on duty to cover the campus. Since there's only a dozen or so employed for 24/7/365 coverage, probably not more then 4 at any one time.
I can't believe all the pissing and moaning this nothingburger request has caused. If your employer asks you to provide a list of five things you did last week, you do it. Doesn't matter what your opinion is of the exercise. If you're not sure it's a legitimate request, you get in touch with your immediate supervisor and ask them what you should do and do that. Problem solved.
Anybody getting upset over this should be fired because they're too stupid to be counted on to do anything productive.
The email was a trap 🪤. Critics and supporters didn’t see it coming. There’s a method to the apparent madness.
Doing it the PacBell way!
“It's been awhile since I was in a cubicle, but if I got the DOGE email I would have immediately sat down, banged out five bullet points that made me look amazing, and hit send.
Then I would never think about it again.”
—— Scott Adams
Whatever the purpose of the 5 points email; it exposed a lot of weak civil servants who don't deserve to be in a position of trust. If writing a short weekly activity report causes you to lose your mind, then you need a simpler job.
Then I would never think about it again
Until his boss called him in and reamed him for sending the response without checking with him first, because his boss's boss had ordered that all draft responses be centrally reviewed. Adams used to understand organizational behavior; now he's just showboating.
"We had weekly performance reports throughout the company all the way up to the top."
Sounds to me like these "weekly performance rreports" were just a chance for the BS artists to toot their own horn. If you boss is actively managing you, he doesn't need a "Weekly performance report">
If you boss is actively managing you, he doesn't need a "Weekly performance report"
Suppose your boss is required to report on what the people he's managing have been doing and is using your report to create his?
As Chief of Staff, Adams reported to our Science and Technology VP Tom Edrington who reported to Ross Ireland. I can assure you, Tom T, what you described was not the process.
"The email is at test that at least separates everyone into 2 groups, those who answered and those who did not answer."
I'd create two other groups- those who bitched about having to do it and those who didn't. The first group is where staffing cuts would start.
These weekly project status reports were the norm and they were a great way for employees to help document accomplishments for quarterly and year end performance reviews. Perhaps a lot depends on the type of work one does.
Well, Freder. You and Mark are acting like your jobs are in jeopardy. Why are you afraid of uncovering corruption on the federal level unless you have something to protect? Isn't good to uncover fraud and corruption in the public sector? After all it's costing both you and I valuable tax dollars. Don't you want to save and lower taxes?
They should have sent an email asking everyone to identify fire hydrants…
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