• The Trump administration has formally axed Elon Musk's "five things" email initiative.
• The program was intended to summarize employee achievements but led to confusion.
• OPM Director Scott Kupor cited a need for better efficiency and existing tools.

The Trump administration has officially ended the controversial "five things" email program initiated by Elon Musk, which required federal employees to report their weekly accomplishments. This decision was made by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), announcing it would no longer manage this process, highlighting a shift away from one of Musk's unpopular efforts to cut down the federal workforce as parts of a broader efficiency initiative. The announcement was communicated to federal HR leads, confirming that the program would not be resuming and signaling a definitive end to this measure, according to Reuters.

Initially launched in February, the "five things" email was intended to boost accountability and oversight within the federal workforce. However, the initiative encountered significant opposition and confusion among government workers, with many agencies ignoring the directive altogether. Musk's approach to enforce compliance was controversial, stating that failure to respond would be seen as a resignation, which prompted backlash from both employees and department heads. This misalignment led to varying responses from different agencies, with some affirming its voluntary nature while others were more stringent, according to HuffPost and CBS News.

In light of the confusion and inefficiency observed during the program, OPM Director Scott Kupor emphasized the need for managers to use existing tools for employee accountability rather than rely on the "five things" email. He stated, "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." This shift marks the end of a controversial experiment in workforce management linked to Musk's tenure in the Trump administration, which notably concluded amid increasingly strained relations between Musk and President Trump, according to The Hill and CBS News.