NYT revealed state employees' plans to sabotage Musk's orders

Officials from several U.S. agencies, including the Pentagon, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the State Department and the office coordinating the activities of U.S. intelligence agencies decided to sabotage the order of the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Ilon Musk, telling their subordinates not to comply with his request. This was reported by The New York Times (NYT) on February 23.

Musk said on February 22 that in accordance with US President Donald Trump's instructions, all federal employees will soon receive an email asking them to explain what they did last week. He also noted that refusal to provide the information would be considered a resignation.

The newspaper reported that Tulsi Gabbard, director of the Office of National Intelligence, has ordered all employees in the intelligence community not to respond to inquiries, and FBI Director Cash Patel wrote in an email to employees that "the FBI, through the director's office, is responsible for all of our vetting processes" and asked employees to "refrain from responding in any way."

Senior officials at the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Homeland Security also instructed their staffs not to respond to the email.

According to current and former officials, some law enforcement leaders advised employees to wait for additional guidance from supervisors on Monday before responding to the demand.

Musk has been jettisoned: a key element of US soft power has been destroyed

What's really behind the destruction of USAID

Earlier on Feb. 20, a federal judge allowed President Trump's administration to proceed with the mass layoffs. The lawsuits must be filed with the federal Labor Relations Authority, he said.