WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump backed Elon Musk’s demand that federal employees explain their recent accomplishments by the end of Monday or risk getting fired, even as government agency officials were told that compliance with Musk’s edict was voluntary.

Confusion and anger over the situation spawned new litigation and added to turmoil within the federal workforce.

“What he’s doing is saying, ‘Are you actually working?'” Trump said in the Oval Office during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. “And then, if you don’t answer, like, you’re sort of semi-fired or you’re fired, because a lot of people aren’t answering because they don’t even exist.”

The Republican president said Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has found “hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud” as he suggested that federal paychecks are going to nonexistent employees. He did not present evidence for his claims.

Even as Trump and Musk pressed their case, the Office of Personnel Management informed agency leaders that their workers were not required to respond by the deadline of 11:59 p.m. EST Monday, according to a person with knowledge of the conversation who requested anonymity to discuss internal matters.

The conflicting directives led to varying advice for federal employees, depending on where they work. Some were told to answer the request for a list of five things that they did last week, others were informed it was optional, and others were directed not to answer at all.

Musk bristled at resistance, saying federal workers “hate even the tiniest amount of accountability.” He continued to threaten firings hours after employees were told that they didn’t need to comply with his demands.

“Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance,” he posted on X, his social media platform. “Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.”

Attorneys representing unions, businesses, veterans and conservation organizations filed an updated lawsuit in federal court in California on Monday, arguing Musk had violated the law by threatening mass firings.

The lawsuit, spearheaded by the State Democracy Defenders Fund, called it “one of the most massive employment frauds in the history of this country.”

Anna Kelly, a White House deputy press secretary, criticized the litigation by saying “in the time it took these employees on taxpayer-funded salaries to file a frivolous lawsuit, they could have briefly recapped their accomplishments to their managers, as is common in the private sector, 100 times over.”

Musk is leading Trump’s efforts to overhaul and downsize the federal government. They’ve urged employees to resign, directed agencies to lay off probationary workers and halted work at some agencies altogether.

There has been pushback in protests around Washington and from within the government. The Office of Special Counsel, a watchdog for the federal workforce, said Monday that the firing of several probationary workers may be illegal. Trump is trying to fire the office’s leader, Hampton Dellinger, in a case that has reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

Dellinger asked the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board to stop layoffs of six employees, but suggested that many more workers should also be protected from losing their jobs.

There are also signs Musk is testing the limits of his influence. Some administration officials — including some of Trump’s most strident allies, such as FBI Director Kash Patel — have told employees not to respond to the email requesting five things they did, citing privacy or security concerns and noting that agencies have their own processes for evaluating employees.