DOD orders civilian employees to respond to OPM work summary email

SecDef Pete Hegseth has directed all DOD civilian employees to comply with OPM's request for weekly work summaries, following an initial pause on the directive.

On 22 February 2025, OPM requested that all federal civilian employees submit approximately five bullet points detailing their work from the prior week. DOD initially held off on requiring responses but has now issued guidance mandating compliance. Employees must submit their reports via email to their immediate supervisors within 48 hours of receipt.

The directive affects approximately 770,000 civilian employees, according to the latest DOD workforce data. While the Pentagon has not provided an estimate of the administrative burden, a rough calculation suggests a significant time and cost impact.

Assuming each employee spends 10 minutes drafting and sending the email, the total time expenditure would be approximately 128,333 hours per week across the department. Based on an average civilian salary of $95,000 per year (or approximately $46 per hour), this equates to over $5.9 million in weekly personnel costs dedicated solely to compliance with this directive.

DOD’s guidance emphasizes that classified or sensitive information must not be included in submissions and that noncompliance may lead to further review. Employees currently without email access due to leave, shift work, or temporary duty must comply within 48 hours of regaining access.

It remains unclear how these reports will be used beyond internal aggregation, but the directive signals a push for increased visibility into civilian workforce contributions under the Trump administration’s defense priorities.