As part of an email sent to federal employees by the United States Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Saturday, employees at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and and Development Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg were asked to “Please respond to this email with apporox. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager.”

The subject of the email, which was sent to The Post, read, “What did you do last week?”

The deadline to respond to the email was posted as Monday (Feb. 24) at 11:59 p.m., EST.

The DOGE email, which one federal employee called “confusing,” was referenced in another email to ERDC employees providing little clarification, but seemingly aimed at easing workers’ minds.

“HQ USACE is verifying that an email distributed to all Federal employees regarding a reply with 5 bullets of what you did at work last week is legitimate or not,” the email reads. “It is slowly coming into mailboxes this afternoon. Please get with your supervisor Monday for guidance or there may be an ERDC wide email with guidance by then.”

The email also asked employees to not respond to the original email in a negative manner.

“The important thing is to take it seriously,” it reads. “If we have to respond, we need to respond appropriately with a response free of any negativity. Please try to remain calm and know that you aren’t being singled out in this process. We all have time to respond to this on Monday. Stand by for guidance from your supervisor, or GSL/ERDC leadership Monday morning.”

The email comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has advised Elon Musk, who is leading the DOGE team, to “get more aggressive” with federal downsizing. According to published reports, the White House has fired employees, or offered buyouts, across the federal government, with more layoffs and firing expected this week.

As of Tuesday, no layoffs have been reported at the ERDC; however, the emails have spawned conjecture across social media about the center’s future.

The ERDC in Vicksburg has the largest concentration of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employees in the world, according to the Mississippi Business Journal, which reported that “ERDC has 2,525 full-time employees plus several hundred additional contract employees. Of those full-time employees, 1,183 have advanced degrees, and 449 of those have doctoral degrees. Of its total number of employees, 1,654 have a duty station in Mississippi.”

According to the ERDC, “The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is the premier research and development center for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We discover, develop, and deliver innovative solutions to the nation’s toughest challenges in military engineering, installations and operational environments, civil works, geospatial research and engineering, and engineered resilient systems.”

There has been no word from the ERDC itself on Monday as to any update regarding the email. 

This is a developing story. More information will be made available as it is uncovered.