Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered all civilian employees at the Pentagon to respond to the “pulse check” email from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) after initially telling federal workers to ignore the directive.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has directed all department civilian employees to respond to emails from the Office of Personnel Management asking them to list their achievements in the past week.

The Defense Department revised its guidance on requiring employees to provide feedback on what they accomplished during their work week. The Pentagon’s Office of Personnel and Readiness initially directed workers to ignore an accountability measure the Trump administration launched last month at the recommendation of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth changed course Monday when he told the Pentagon's civilian workforce to respond to an email from the Office of Personnel Management. When the OPM email first came asking federal workers what they accomplished last week,

The Defense Department initially told employees to "pause any response" to OPM's request for a list of their work accomplishments.

Departments with sensitive or confidential tasks, such as the FBI or Pentagon, initially told employees to ignore the order from DOGE and OPM.