Is Accountability a Four-Letter Word for Bureaucrats?

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity - Expose the fraud, expose the illegality, expose the truth!

Elon Musk and the Office of Personnel Management (‘OPM”) really have touched a nerve. How dare they ask federal workers to report on what they do! These public servants are used to making the American People dance their tune; how dare OPM make them report to the President of the United States. Looks like “accountability” is the dirtiest word in the lexicon of the federal workforce. Let’s briefly review what set off this particular firestorm, and then, I want to offer my suggestion for how to begin Round Two.

Accountability: Round One

At 2:46 pm on Saturday, February 22, 2025, Elon Musk posted on X:

Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.

Later in the day, this email was sent from OPM to employees:

Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager. Please do not send any classified information, links, or attachments. Deadline was this past Monday at 11:59 pm EST.

Accountability Resisted

Watching CNN and MSNBC coverage of this story, my personal favorite response from several federal workers was that these emails were “disrespectful.” Imagine that accountability within the federal workforce is so unusual that it is seen as “disrespectful.”

Congressional reaction was intense, including lame-duck U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN). This former Planned Parenthood official showed multiple obsessions as she posted on X:

This is the ultimate dick boss move from Musk - except he isn’t even the boss, he’s just a dick. I bet a lot of people have had an experience like this with a bad boss - there’s an email in your inbox on Saturday night saying, “Prove to me your worthiness by Monday or else.” I’m on the side of the workers, not the billionaire asshole bosses.

So much for elevating the discourse. The lines are now firmly drawn between those who feel entitled to a government job, and the rest of Americans who feel abused by being forced to pay for so many entitled bureaucrats.

So they filed suit. Of course they did. On Sunday, the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO filed an amended complaint in an existing case in federal court in San Francisco (where better?) arguing that the threat of mass firings “one of the most massive employment frauds in the history of this country.”

The Genius Behind the Strategy

President Trump responded Monday revealing perhaps the main reason for these emails:

We have people that don’t show up to work and nobody even knows if they work for the government so by asking the question ‘tell us what you did this week,’ what he’s doing is saying are you actually working. And then, if you don’t answer, like, you’re sort of semi-fired or you're fired ... a lot of people are not answering because they don't even exist. [Emphasis added.]

So there really is a touch of genius in this strategy — as it will expose employees who may have died, or moved to another country, or never even existed. But for those employees who do exist, I have yet another strategy to propose. I wrote about this last month, and I want to bring that idea back today.

Accountability: Round Two

I suggest that each agency head borrow a technique from the Honorable James R. Schlesinger — a Ph.D. economist who served in both Republican and Democrat Administrations. He too demonstrated a touch of genius. He reasoned, if you want to find out if there has been illegal activity going on — ask the bureaucrats — which is exactly what he did at the CIA, providing fascinating bit of forgotten history.

James Schlesinger served as Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, CIA Director, Secretary of Defense, and Secretary of Energy. His tenure at the CIA was brief, only five months — from February 2, 1973 to July 2, 1973 — at which time he was moved on to be Secretary of Defense. However, during that brief time at the CIA, he faced the challenge of running an agency that had been badly politicalized, much like now.

George Washington University’s National Security Archive explains that upon arriving at the CIA, Schlesinger learned that “Watergate burglars E. Howard Hunt and James McCord (both veteran CIA officers) had cooperation from the Agency as they carried out ‘dirty tricks’ for President Nixon.” In response, on May 9, 1973, Director Schlesinger issued a directive which ordered:

all senior operating officials ... to report to me immediately on any activities now going on, or that have gone on in the past, which might be construed to be outside the legislative charter of this Agency.... Anyone who has such information should call my secretary ... and say that he wishes to talk to me about ‘activities outside CIA’s charter.’ [Emphasis added.]

All of these employees had taken an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” and Schlesinger believed that it was entirely reasonable to ask those employees to help clean up the Agency by reporting to him about violations of the law. And the directive went even further to address future activities as well, ordering:

Any CIA employee who believes that he has received instructions which in any way appear inconsistent with the CIA legislative charter shall inform the Director of Central Intelligence immediately. [Emphasis added.]

By any standard, this was a man who was serious about his responsibilities. He took a “hands on” approach within his Agency. He directed employees to report on past activities. He offered to meet with every person with knowledge of violations of the CIA’s charter. He ordered employees to report on questionable activities. And, he provided a means for those employees to air their concerns at the highest level — with him personally.

“The Schlesinger Directive” eventually led to the collection of much information of wrongdoing and the collection of documents detailing illegal CIA activities. Many of these documents which were later released by the CIA, are now posted on a CIA website: “Widely known as the ‘Family Jewels,’ this document consists of almost 700 pages of responses from CIA employees to a 1973 directive from Director of Central Intelligence James Schlesinger....” (Emphasis added.)

Applying the Schlesinger Directive

If there is a better strategy to find out quickly about illegal activities in the federal workforce under Biden-Harris, I don’t know what it is. The Trump Administration doesn’t need to re-invent the wheel here. Director Schlesinger paved the way, but the strategy he developed need not be limited to the CIA.

I would only suggest two modifications to The Schlesinger Directive. First, I would not make reporting voluntary, but would require each senior appointee to file a report detailing any knowledge of potentially illegal activities. Second, I would mandate that the report be filed under oath. If there are those who would prefer to hide illegal activities, I suspect the country could get along very nicely without them.

Would this trigger litigation? Of course. Everything triggers a lawsuit by the left. These suits are being cataloged here. But litigation is no reason to stop. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Expose the fraud. Expose the illegality. Expose the truth.