PM Update: Guidance on OPM’s Saturday “5 bullets” Email

Posted on By Paddy Shea

This is an afternoon update to our post this morning regarding OPM’s Saturday email asking staff to report to them with 5 bullets on their work activities last week.  

At the end of the day, it is up to each BUE if they choose to reply to the OPM email or not, but below we are sharing 3 messages with you to help you make an informed choice.

1.) Click here to read advice from our parent union, the National Federation of Federal Employees (“NFFE National”) which was emailed out to subscribers at 1:02 PM ET today, 2/24/2025.

2.) DAS Pierce sent an email at 12:00 PM ET today, 2/24/2025, that said: 

Subject: In Case You Missed It: Update on the OPM Email

Hello Passport Services,

You may have received a message from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (HR@opm.gov) requiring you submit five work-related accomplishments for last week.  In case you missed it, per Ambassador Tibor P. Nagy’s email the State Department will respond on behalf of the Department.  No employee is obligated to report their activities outside of their Department chain of command.

This is the most current guidance we have at this time. We will let you know if we receive any other updates.

Thank you for your continued service to the American people.

Matt Pierce
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Passport Services

3.) During the “PPT 2025 Vision Townhall” from 2:00-3:00 PM ET today, 2/24/2025, DAS Pierce reiterated that Ambassador Nagy’s email was the most recent guidance we have received.  He said, “nobody is required to respond. Nobody will be penalized for responding.  We do not have further guidance to share at this time.”

Click here to read our initial post on this from this morning.

Executive Orders

Guidance on OPM’s Saturday “5 bullets” Email

Posted on By Paddy Shea

On Saturday, OPM sent out an email asking federal government workers to “Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager.”

Click here to read advice from NFFE National President Randy Erwin about how to respond.

Here is an excerpt of his letter:

February 23, 2025

NFFE members and Bargaining Unit Employees,

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has sent out an email asking federal employees to respond with five bullet points regarding what they worked on last week. Most of the emails federal employees received state the deadline to respond is not until Monday. The email does not threaten termination or implied resignation, however, Elon Musk posted on Twitter indicating failure to reply would be considered a resignation.

NFFE believes this email and the threat by Elon Musk are illegal. We advise you to forward the email to your immediate supervisor and ask for their guidance. If your immediate supervisor does not give you instruction to reply, please wait to respond until further notice is given by your agency, your supervisor, or NFFE. If your immediate supervisor advises you to reply to the email, please do so.

OPM and Elon Musk do not have legal authority to take personnel action based on this request. This is yet another ploy by the Trump Administration and Elon Musk to create an atmosphere of intimidation and is not a legal manner to manage America’s largest workforce.

Click here to read the rest of President Erwin’s message.

Passport bargaining unit employees were also sent an email on Saturday from Ambassador Nagy that said:

You may have received a message from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management requiring you submit five work-related accomplishments.  The State Department will respond on behalf of the Department.  No employee is obligated to report their activities outside of their Department chain of command.

Click here to read an article about the situation, including the President’s post about it.

Update: Click here to read our update posted at 3:30 PM 2/24/2025.

Executive Orders

Advice Regarding Probationary Layoffs, RIFs, and Future Trump-Musk Actions

Posted on By Paddy Shea

Hello to ALL Bargaining Unit Employees,

The past few weeks have been a very tumultuous time, with people being cajoled to resign, and threatened with potential mass firings.  We hope that working for Passport Services will insulate us from firings, and the fact that we got a hiring freeze exemption is hopeful, but we do not know what the future holds.

Please know that your union, both NFFE Local 1998, as well as our parent union, the National Federation of Federal Employees (“NFFE National”), are working hard to protect your rights.  On behalf of NFFE Local 1998, I have filed grievances in response to the rollouts of some of the Executive Orders that violate our collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Simultaneously, NFFE National has been advocating for federal government workers on national news broadcasts, and in myriad ways, such as gathering and distributing information.

Please click on this hyperlink to see guidance from NFFE National which contains information that is important for all federal government workers to know, and especially for probationary employees. Being as knowledgeable as possible can help folks feel a bit less stressed while we go through this period of uncertainty, and being prepared gives workers a better chance to win back their jobs if firings do occur. For instance, having a copy of your eOPF available to you at home is important; click here to read how to download your entire electronic personnel file (eOPF) at once.  (I also emailed both of those resources to your work email address.)

NFFE Local 1998 and NFFE National will keep working hard for BUEs.  And, in case you haven’t heard it lately, I want to thank all BUEs in all parts of Passport Services for the hard work you do every day to ensure American citizens have the freedom to travel the world.  The work you do matters.   

In Solidarity,
Boyd Hinton

President
NFFE Local 1998

https://nffe1998.org/

Message from the President, NFFE National