The U.S. Defense Department has announced it will no longer require civilian employees to submit weekly bullet-point reports of their accomplishments, a policy introduced by the Department of Government Efficiency under Elon Musk’s influence. The change comes as Musk steps back from DOGE and the Pentagon shifts focus to employee-driven ideas for efficiency improvements.
In an email to the Pentagon’s civilian workforce, Jay Hurst, performing the duties of undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, stated that the ‘five bullet exercise’ will no longer be required. Instead, employees are asked to submit at least one idea by Wednesday to help improve efficiency or root out waste at the Defense Department. This move follows similar actions by other federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, which also began phasing out the requirement last month.
The weekly reports, part of efforts to eliminate waste in the federal government, were mandated by Musk and DOGE as part of his broader agenda to streamline government operations. However, recent developments suggest a shift in focus, with the Pentagon now prioritizing employee suggestions over structured reporting. Musk, who recently announced he is stepping back from DOGE and focusing more on his companies, Tesla, SpaceX, and the social media platform X, said on Feb. 22 that federal employees would be required to start sending weekly reports of what they accomplished to the Office of Personnel Management as well as their managers.
“Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk wrote on X at the time. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation,” he emphasized. Some agencies, including the Defense Department, the State Department, and the FBI, initially told employees to hold off on submitting the reports.
Days later, the Office of Personnel Management told human resources officers across the government that the emailed reports were voluntary, according to The Washington Post. Officials at the agency also said they did not plan to do anything with the emails they received. But Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent a memorandum on Feb. 28 instructing all Pentagon civilian employees to submit the weekly emails requested by DOGE.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.