Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and an adviser to President Donald Trump, described his role as “tech support” while speaking at Trump’s first Cabinet meeting. Sporting a T-shirt that read “tech support” and a “Make America Great Again” cap, Musk said his department was working hard to “fix the government computer systems.”
Despite not being a Cabinet member or elected official, Musk praised Trump’s team. “President Trump has put together the best Cabinet ever. And I do not give false praise. This is an incredible group of people,” Musk said.
Musk has sparked controversy with his sweeping efforts to overhaul federal operations, which have already resulted in job losses. Over the weekend, he sent an email demanding that federal employees explain their work or risk termination — an email that reportedly received one million responses.
Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary, defended the email, calling it a simple request. “All this administration is asking is for federal workers, who live off the American taxpayers’ dime, to send five bullet points of what they have done in the previous week. That’s all we are asking for,” she said.
When questioned about the email, Musk described it as a “pulse check review” rather than a performance evaluation. “We think there are a number of people on the government payroll who are dead. Which is probably why they can’t respond. And some people who are not real — literally fictional individuals collecting paychecks,” Musk said.
Musk acknowledged that his overhaul had mistakenly led to the cancellation of critical programs, including USAID’s Ebola prevention initiatives — a decision that was quickly reversed.
Trump weighed in, suggesting that federal workers who failed to respond to Musk’s email were “on the bubble” and at risk of being fired. “Anybody unhappy with Elon? If you are, then we’ll throw them out of here,” Trump joked, receiving mixed applause from Cabinet members.
Despite some disagreement within the administration, Energy Secretary Chris Wright downplayed the tension, saying the Cabinet was focused on making government operations more efficient. “Elon Musk and President Trump are working together with all of us in the Cabinet to figure out how to run America’s government more like America’s business,” Wright said.
Meanwhile, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles confirmed that Musk reports directly to President Trump, not to the Cabinet secretaries, further clarifying Musk’s influential — and unconventional — role in the administration.
