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In the latest sign of tech billionaire Elon Musk’s apparently waning power in the federal government, staffers at the National Institutes of Health have been told to ignore his demand for weekly productivity self-evaluations.
NIH employees were instructed Thursday that the agency was “rolling back” Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) directives, including writing their own performance reviews and limiting purchases and travel to save money, according to NIH messages obtained by Politico.
The new orders come after the confirmation of new NIH Director Director Jay Bhattacharya last month.
“Please disregard any future reminders or instructions on this directive from OPM or the Department of Health and Human Services,” said one message, referring to the White House’s personnel office.
“NIH manages its own performance review processes, and will notify employees directly if any information related to work duties or performance is needed,” the message added.
Another message stated that agency purchasing cards would be “restored to full capacity and use” on Thursday. Staff will “again be able to travel for business and won’t have to seek permission” from Health and Human Services or the NIH director’s office, the note added.
DOGE last month set a mere $1 spending limit on federal agency credit cards unless an exemption was obtained, and implemented a new purchase review and approval process across agencies to constrain spending, Politico noted.
Musk in February ordered all federal workers across multiple agencies to send weekly emails to the Office of Personnel Management with five bullet points summarizing their work. He and President Donald Trump threatened workers who ignored the order with termination.
Supervisors complained that the requirement ate up time that could be spent instead on actual work, and that the reports would apparently be evaluated by a DOGE crew who knew nothing about the tasks of the agencies they were attempting to supervise.
In the past month, several agencies, including the FBI and Department of Justice, have also instructed employees not to respond to DOGE’s demands because of fears about disclosing protected private information, or classified information through unsecured channels.
Many workers by late March were ignoring Musk’s demand for the five-points email, ABC News reported, and at least one employee was sending the exact same email each week with no consequences.
When asked about Musk’s apparent power demotion, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told Politico: “The Department of Government Efficiency reports to agency heads. Agency heads do not report to the Department of Government Efficiency.”
Elon Musk could not immediately be reached for comment by The Independent.
