Donald Trump warned federal workers who haven't responded to Elon Musk's "things-I-did-this-week" list that they could lose their jobs. Meanwhile, Cabinet members sitting right next him tried their darndest to keep their composure.
"Those million people that haven't responded to Elon, they are on the bubble," Trump said during the Trump-Musk Administration's first cabinet meeting today, while on the topic of the DOGE-led demolition of the U.S. workforce. "You know, I wouldn't say that we're thrilled about it, but they haven't responded. Now maybe they don't exist. Maybe we're paying people that don't exist. … But those people are on the bubble, as they say. Maybe they're going to be gone."
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth — both who work for Departments that told their own employees to ignore Musk's demand-letter — sat on either side of Trump with the most sheepish of all the poker faces in the room. (See video below, posted by Acyn.)
The president's wide-ranging effort to downsize the US government, lead by Musk, has sparked confusion across Washington and friction with some departments. Musk, who attended the meeting, recently directed an emailed ultimatum to federal workers to list five things they accomplished or risk termination.
Many department and agency heads told their workers to disregard the directive and the Office of Personnel Management later said that responses were voluntary. More than a million federal employees, less that half the workforce, responded, according to the White House.
Still, Trump downplayed any divisions ahead of the meeting. "ALL CABINET MEMBERS ARE EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH ELON. The Media will see that at the Cabinet Meeting this morning!!!" the president wrote on his social media site. In the Cabinet meeting, Trump asked secretaries if they were upset with Musk's work, and jokingly threatened to eject anyone who said yes.
Previously: Hiding its "wall of receipts" DOGE retreats into the shadows
