In November 2022, just days after Elon Musk acquired Twitter, company employees received an email with the subject line: “Fork in the Road.” Now, the billionaire has turned his attention to the US government: federal employees have also been sent a notice with the same subject line.

The email gave Twitter employees an ultimatum: commit to excelling and working extremely hard, or quit. The memo to federal employees offered a similar choice: commit to “excellence” and being “trustworthy and loyal,” or resign.

CNN assessed the language in the email and announcement as the clearest sign yet that Musk – a top adviser to President Donald Trump and co-secretary of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – appears to be applying the “trick” of managing Twitter to the federal government.

This raises the question of whether the US government will fire employees at the same rapid pace as a tech company, and whether it will suffer the same consequences as Twitter.

musk trump bloomberg october 5, 2024
US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk in this photo taken on October 5, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. Photo: Bloomberg

Lara Cohen, Twitter's former chief marketing and partnerships officer who left after Musk bought Twitter, wrote on Threads: "Freezing all government spending feels strangely familiar... They show up, they don't care, they shut everything down without knowing who's doing what... It's a social media company. But it's a country and it's going to hurt people."

Musk has frequently talked about reducing the size of the federal government, and he played a key role in the U.S. government’s plan to offer federal workers retirement benefits on January 28. The deadline for more than 2 million workers to decide is February 6. If they quit, they will receive about eight months’ pay.

According to William Klepper, professor of management at Columbia Business School, government is not a business. In business, the winning formula is to deliver greater value to customers than competitors and deliver superior profits. Meanwhile, government creates greater value for its constituents through its programs and services.

In a post on X on January 29, Musk declared that “reducing the size of government is the most common problem today.”

How does Elon Musk manage Twitter?

The day before closing his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter (now X), Musk walked into the “bluebird” headquarters with a sink in his hand. Within hours of taking over, Musk made moves that he deemed necessary to “save” the company but caused chaos.

The billionaire fired most of his staff, only to call back a few dozen.

He ordered the shutdown of at least one data center, leading the platform to experience numerous service disruptions in the months that followed.

He eliminated the safety team, dismantled content moderation policies, and welcomed back misinformation spreaders to the platform. Many users and advertisers left.

X was sued by landlords and partners for nonpayment of rent. The city of San Francisco also investigated X for illegal signage and for reporting a bedroom in the office.

According to CNN , Musk's controversial decisions have made Twitter — once one of the most important and timely sources of news — more toxic, less trustworthy, and less useful, fueling the rise of rival platforms.

Since Musk's acquisition, Twitter's value has dropped about 80%, according to Fidelity.

While the incident hurt Twitter employees, users, and advertisers, Musk’s power grew. In the summer of 2024, he used X to sway public perception in favor of presidential candidate Trump.

And since Mr. Trump won the election, Musk has also had a solid position in the government, while pocketing tens of billions of dollars thanks to the expectation that his relationship with the President will benefit his business empires.

Because of that, Musk may not have much incentive to change his strategy on DOGE.

(According to CNN)