SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Well, federal employees get another email this weekend - the one asking them, what did you do last week? Trump adviser Elon Musk wants federal workers to report back every Monday. At a Cabinet meeting, Musk said, just a way to ensure that people getting government paychecks actually exists. He called it a pulse check.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ELON MUSK: Do you have a pulse?
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: A pulse check.
MUSK: Do you have a pulse and two neurons?
(LAUGHTER)
SIMON: Some federal workers didn't find that so funny. NPR's Andrea Hsu joins us. Andrea, thanks so much for being with us.
ANDREA HSU, BYLINE: Thanks for having me.
SIMON: Managers ask their employees to keep them up to date all the time - tell them what they've been doing. That seems pretty ordinary, but you've heard from workers at the VA - are quite mad about these emails. Why are they so upset?
HSU: Yeah, well, for several reasons. First, because the original request did not come from their managers. It came from the Office of Personnel Management at the direction of Elon Musk. And, you know, he has said this was his idea. And these emails hit inboxes over the weekends, while most people were off, you know, trying to relax. Now, the people I spoke with at the VA, they are mental health professionals. They help veterans with things like depression and PTSD, combat trauma, sexual trauma. And they say the government already closely tracks what they do. Supervisors can run reports on how many patients they see, how many phone calls they make, what time those interactions start and stop, what topics are discussed, and so on. So they don't know why an additional weekly email is necessary. And one psychologist I spoke with described the what-did-you-do-last-week emails in pretty stark terms. She said they're like flash-bang grenades meant to discombobulate federal workers. And NPR agreed not to identify her or others at the VA by name, because they're scared they'll lose their jobs for speaking out.
SIMON: Andrea, did the mental health workers with whom you spoke answer their emails, list their accomplishments?
HSU: Yeah, they did, because the VA told them they should respond. And, in fact, they told me it's not hard writing down, you know, a few things about what they did - few sentences about what they did. But they do see it as just one more thing getting in the way of their work, which is helping veterans deal with these really tough problems. And it's coming at a time when there's been so much upheaval in the federal government. You know, the VA this week announced deep cuts ahead, and a psychologist I talked to said patients are themselves worried. She has patients asking her, are you going to be here next week or next month? And she says she's spending a lot of time calming their nerves instead of focusing on their treatments.
SIMON: So the stress that mental health workers are feeling isn't all about the emails?
HSU: Yeah. Well, I spoke with a Harvard Business School professor about this. Her name is Amy Edmondson, and she's a social psychologist. She says you have to think about the context when you consider the impact of these emails that originated with Elon Musk.
AMY EDMONDSON: Think about it. You're in your job, and suddenly you're getting an email from someone who's not your boss, and not your peer, not your subordinate, not someone that you normally interact with to do your job. What's under it?
HSU: And the people I talked to, Scott, say they're doing the best they can to keep it together for their patients. But one psychiatrist told me she's anxious and irritable, and she finds herself doing things like doomscrolling the internet, which she knows is not good. In fact, it's something she tells her own patients not to do.
SIMON: What does the Trump administration say?
HSU: Well, we asked the White House to comment on what we've heard from these VA employees, and we haven't heard back. We do know that President Trump supports Elon Musk's effort to gather these weekly responses. The president has repeatedly said there are some workers in the federal government who aren't doing a good job and shouldn't be there. Now, we don't know what the administration is doing with these responses. Some have speculated they're using AI to analyze them, but to what end is not clear. The administration has told agencies to collect the information and decide how to deal with people who don't respond.
SIMON: Have any of the people with whom you've spoken, mental health workers, thought about leaving?
HSU: Yeah. But they tell me they really don't want to. They love their work. They know they can make more money in private practice. But on psychologist told me she felt a called a duty to serve those who have served the country, and she said, I'm not a quitter. I won't be bullied into quitting. She plans to stay as long as she can.
SIMON: NPR's Andrea Hsu. Thanks so much for being with us.
HSU: Thanks, Scott.
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