White House staffers were given departure instructions. Then they were told to disregard them.

White House.
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

White House staffers received an email Tuesday night with instructions for vacating the building, several outlets, including CBS News and Politico, report.

The memo said employees "will start departing" the week of Jan. 4, and it outlined information on everything their final paychecks to cleaning out refrigerators and microwaves.

But then on Wednesday morning, the staffers received another email telling them to disregard the previous message.

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It's unclear what exactly prompted the change, though there's speculation it's an attempt to appease President Trump, who has not given up his longshot bid to remain in the White House.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.