Musk initially said the request was a 'very basic pulse check,' but now says it will root out 'non-existent people or...dead people' who are collecting paychecks. Several agencies are telling employees to ignore the email for now.

Some civil servants are using whatever levers they have to resist the orders of the world’s richest man, both in public and behind closed doors.

Some federal employees are deciding whether to respond with actual accomplishments or to respond to the email with bullets of the oath they took to the Constitution, according to one