Trump Backs Musk in First Cabinet Meeting --- President suggests some workers who didn't respond to email could be fired

"WASHINGTON -- President Trump defended billionaire adviser Elon Musk on Wednesday and raised the possibility that some of the more than one million federal workers who didn't respond to an email asking what they accomplished last week could be fired.

"Those people are on the bubble, as they say, maybe they're going to be gone," Trump said at the White House in the first cabinet meeting of his new term. Some of the people who didn't respond may be dead or don't exist, Trump added. One million workers responded to the email, according to the White House, or more than 40% of the federal workforce of roughly 2.3 million.

Musk, who is running the administration's Department of Government Efficiency cost-cutting initiative, said he was confident he could find $1 trillion in savings across the government's roughly $7 trillion in annual spending, or a cut of about 15%.

Trump praised Musk and asked his cabinet if anyone was dissatisfied with the Tesla chief executive's efforts. Members of the cabinet, seated around a long table in the West Wing, laughed and none indicated any dissent. But several senior agency officials instructed federal workers to pause or not respond to Musk's email asking federal workers for a bullet-point list of five things they accomplished last week.

"Some disagree a little bit, but I will tell you, for the most part, I think everyone's not only happy, they're thrilled," Trump said. He added later, addressing his cabinet, "Is anyone unhappy with Elon?"

The president said his ultimate goal was to balance the government's budget, "maybe by next year or the year after." The last time the U.S. government had a budget surplus was 2001.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the deficit is projected to be $1.7 trillion in fiscal 2027. That figure assumes that Trump's expiring tax cuts get extended and that none of his new tax cut proposals get implemented. Balancing the budget that year without touching Social Security, Medicare or interest costs would require eliminating almost half of all other spending.

Agency leaders across the government are working on plans to reduce the size of their workforce and cut spending." [1]

1. U.S. News: Trump Backs Musk in First Cabinet Meeting --- President suggests some workers who didn't respond to email could be fired. Andrews, Natalie; Linskey, Annie.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 27 Feb 2025: A4.