Federal Workers Who Ignore Musk Risk Their Jobs, Trump Warns (1)

President Donald Trump said approximately 1 million federal workers who did not respond to billionaire Elon Musk’s demand to explain their activities are at risk of losing their jobs.

“Those million people that haven’t responded to Elon, they are on the bubble,” the president told reporters on Wednesday during the first Cabinet meeting of his second term. “I wouldn’t say that we’re thrilled about it.”

Trump’s comments came after the White House told federal agencies on Wednesday to submit plans by March 13 for “large-scale reductions in force,” the first phase of its plan to drastically cut the federal workforce. The president suggested some agencies could see dramatic job reductions, saying Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin was considering eliminating 65% of his staff.

Trump also said he would task Cabinet secretaries with establishing teams within their departments to examine possible spending reductions. Musk said he was “confident” his group could “actually find a trillion dollars in savings; that would be a roughly 15% of the $7 trillion budget.”

Doug Burgum, US secretary of the interior, from left, Marco Rubio, US secretary of state, US President Donald Trump, and Pete Hegseth, US secretary of defense

Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg

Trump is slated to sign an executive action later Wednesday that would formalize much of the work Musk’s cost-cutting effort is already doing. The order calls on agencies to terminate any unnecessary contracts and directs the General Services Administration to come up with a plan to offload federal leases and property, according to a fact sheet seen by Bloomberg News. It also orders that government payments and travel expenses must be “justified and made publicly available where possible,” according to the document.

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.

“This can only done with your support,” Musk told Cabinet officials. “So this is a really urgent support function for the president.”

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.

The assembled department heads responded by bursting into applause.

Attempts to fire employees for not responding will likely face legal obstacles, including whether workers could be compelled to respond to OPM’s “what did you do last week?” messages under federal privacy laws.

Cabinet meetings had traditionally been sedate occasions under other presidents, typically featuring brief remarks and a photo opportunity. They transformed into public set pieces during Trump’s first term, as he touted his accomplishments followed by Cabinet secretaries heaping praise on the president with the press looking on. Trump would also take questions at length on a wide range of topics.

(Updates with Trump directive for agencies to justify expenses, cut costs)

--With assistance from Hadriana Lowenkron and Gregory Korte.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Josh Wingrove in Washington at jwingrove4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Justin Sink at jsink1@bloomberg.net

Jordan Fabian, Laura Davison

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