India, Sept. 24 -- For many sacked in a blitz by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by President Donald Trump's then-BFF Elon Musk, it's turned out to be a seven-month paid holiday. Musk is out of favour, and now hundreds of federal employees are being asked to return to work.

The General Services Administration has given the employees, mostly those who managed workspaces, until the end of the week to accept or decline reinstatement, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press. Their date of rejoining has been set as October 6.

Since maintenance staff was out, the GSA had to pay others higher costs out of the government exchequer to stay on in dozens of properties after the DOGE moves were reversed fol...