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States received an email that would change their lives. Though sent by human resources, few doubted the message had been crafted by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk. Eight days earlier, on the day of his second inauguration, Donald Trump had used executive authority to appoint Musk as head of his ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ (DOGE). Trump boasted that the newly created department would ‘modernize federal technology and software’ and ‘maximize governmental efficiency and productivity’.1 On taking charge, Musk likened his task to ‘reprogram
ming the Matrix’ and vowed to eliminate over $1 trillion of wasteful, ideological spending. The email received by employees bore the subject line ‘fork in the road’—the same line Musk used in a message sent to Twitter employees after acquiring the company in 2022. As with that earlier missive, this email informed recipients that they were now subject to a new regime, one demanding higher standards of accountability, excellence and loyalty. Those unable or unwilling to work under these conditions were invited to resign. The ultimatum formed part of a broader blitz, waged against academia, judiciary, media and public service workers, to intimidate and eliminate potential opposition to the Trump administration.