PRESIDENT TRUMP AND ELON MUSK united to defend the work of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on Wednesday following criticism from select Republicans and pushback from within Trump’s Cabinet.
Trump opened his first full Cabinet meeting to the press, where he and Musk discussed the sweeping cuts to the government workforce that some Republicans have viewed as reckless and lacking in empathy.
At the heart of the issue is the email Musk sent through the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) demanding all federal workers explain their accomplishments or risk losing their jobs.
Several of Trump’s Cabinet secretaries — all of whom were on hand Wednesday — instructed their workers to ignore Musk’s demand, with some citing national security risks.
“Is anybody unhappy with Elon?” Trump joked at the meeting. “If you are, we’ll throw them out of here … they have a lot of respect for Elon and some disagree a little bit, but they’re not only happy they’re thrilled.”
The room gave Musk a round of applause.
Musk further explained the OPM email, saying Trump authorized it.
He said it wasn’t meant as a “performance review” but rather as a “pulse check” to identify absent or nonexistent workers he says are fraudulently drawing a government paycheck.
“Do you have a pulse and two neurons? If you do, you can reply to an email,” Musk said.
Trump said anyone who didn’t respond is “on the bubble” and that a second email might go out soon.
Musk elaborated on how he views DOGE, describing it as the government’s “tech support” system with the aim of modernizing antiquated computer systems.
He acknowledged “we will make mistakes," saying DOGE accidentally canceled the government’s Ebola prevention efforts but later restored them “without interruption.”
This comes as a second wave of government workforce cuts are expected.
OPM sent a memo to government agencies Wednesday instructing them to turn over their plans for widespread layoffs by March 13.
Trump said these layoffs would be “a little more surgical.”
The president said big cuts are coming to the Department of Education and that the Environmental Protection Agency could see two-thirds of its employees dismissed.
