Schumer whines about DOGE progress report request, gets roasted on a spit by X

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer’s complaint about Air Traffic Controllers being diverted to do “busy work” was met with derision on social media.

The New York Democrat posted on X in response to a recent message that federal workers received from the Office of Personnel Management, claiming that it was an attempt by the Trump administration and Elon Musk running the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to take them away from their “vital” work.

“This new ‘OPM’ (read: DOGE) email was sent to Air Traffic Controllers,” Schumer posted.

“That’s right. Trump, Musk, and DOGE are diverting Air Traffic Controllers from their vital work keeping Americans safe by forcing them to do busy work!” he added. “I’m fighting to keep our aviation system safe.”

This new “OPM” (read: DOGE) email was sent to Air Traffic Controllers.

That’s right. Trump, Musk, and DOGE are diverting Air Traffic Controllers from their vital work keeping Americans safe by forcing them to do busy work!

I’m fighting to keep our aviation system safe.

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) February 23, 2025

Federal workers received an email over the weekend with the subject line, “What did you do last week?”

Musk posted on X that “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”

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.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 22, 2025

Musk later noted that “the bar is very low here” after meltdowns over what’s seen as routine progress reports in the real world outside of the federal bureaucracy.

“An email with some bullet points that make any sense at all is acceptable! Should take less than 5 mins to write,” Musk added.

To be clear, the bar is very low here.

An email with some bullet points that make any sense at all is acceptable!

Should take less than 5 mins to write. https://t.co/MTL1wyzaxd

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 23, 2025

“As part of the Trump Administration’s commitment to an efficient and accountable federal workforce, OPM is asking employees to provide a brief summary of what they did last week by the end of Monday, CC’ing their manager. Agencies will determine any next steps,” an OPM spokesperson told CBS News.

Schumer’s whining on X along with others was met with instant criticism and a fact-check on how the real world woks.

Being asked to write what you accomplished during the week is not busy work. It’s called a progress report.

— George (@BehizyTweets) February 23, 2025

Are you saying air traffic controllers got an email? Oh no! How can they do their jobs and answer an email in the SAME WEEK! Lol…

— John Hawkins (@johnhawkinsrwn) February 23, 2025

I have to do this on a daily basis at my job via my GCal so that if our BPO ever questions why they paid me for a specific amount of time, my manager can cite my calendar to prove my productivity and justify my job. Welcome to the world.

— konekosaurus (@konekosaurus) February 23, 2025

Air traffic controllers can list 5 flights they successfully tracked and directed to a safe landing. Accountability is coming in the Federal Government. Something all private sector employees deal with daily. Get over it.

— Gimme3Steps (@TheSouthGAJohn) February 23, 2025

If they can’t handle sending a 5-minute email, they should not be handling planes!

— Sadie (@Sadie_NC) February 23, 2025

You and the establishment have made travel less safe & more costly w/ overregulation.

Air travel has been stunted for decades while Elon has created reusable rockets and has saved countless lives w/ driverless cars.

If u think paperwork is so bad then propose ways to cut it.

— Anthony Galli (@RallyWithGalli) February 23, 2025

It takes two minutes to write 5 bullet point accomplishments. Find something else to cry about

— Silva Tetro (@tetro_silva) February 23, 2025

Senior Staff Writer
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

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