Getting death threats after federal workers' firing, says Elon Musk
What's the story
Elon Musk said that his DOGE team has been receiving "a lot" of death threats, as he took the stage at President Donald Trump's first cabinet meeting on Wednesday. "I'm taking a lot of flak and getting a lot of death threats,.... I can, like, stack them up," Musk said. But if we don't do our job, he said America will go bankrupt.
Goal
Overall goal is to reduce the government deficit
He went on to say that DOGE's "overall goal" is to reduce the government deficit, as the US currently spends more on debt servicing than on defense. "We're spending...over a trillion dollars on interest," he said. He stated that his work could eventually result in cost savings of up to a trillion dollars—or 15% of the government budget—by reducing "waste, fraud, and abuse."
Email to federal employees to list accomplishments
His appearance came after the Office of Personnel Management issued a directive to federal employees via email asking them to list their accomplishments or face termination. The communication sparked widespread confusion and alarm, with several departments clarifying that responses to the email were voluntary. Later, the Trump administration clarified that responding was not mandatory.
Mistakes
Musk admits his operation would make mistakes
Musk did admit that his operation would "make mistakes" in its cost-cutting efforts "but when we make a mistake, we'll fix it very quickly." "But we do need to move quickly if we're to achieve a trillion-dollar deficit reduction in financial year 2026. It requires saving $4 billion per day, every day from now through the end of September," Musk added.
Memo
'Prepare to initiate large-scale reductions in force by March 13'
At the Cabinet meeting, the Trump administration also issued a memo instructing federal departments and agencies to prepare to launch "large-scale reductions in force" by March 13. The directive, issued by the Personnel Management and Management and Budget offices, also directed federal departments to remove positions and prepare reorganization plans for their agencies by the same deadline.