Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leader Elon Musk on Wednesday said in President Donald Trump’s first Cabinet meeting that federal workers were asked to justify their jobs via email to see if they “have a pulse” and were real people.
“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 people, like they’re literally fictional individuals that are collecting paychecks — or somebody’s collecting paychecks on a fictional individual,” Musk, who is not a Cabinet member but has been one of Trump’s closest allies in recent months, said at the meeting.
“I think that email perhaps was misinterpreted as a performance review. But, actually, it was a pulse-check review. Do you have a pulse? Do you have a pulse and two neurons?” Musk said. “So, if you have a pulse and two neurons, you can reply to an email. This is, you know, I think not a high bar.”
Musk this past weekend spearheaded an email, with the subject line “What did you do last week?” that was sent to millions of federal workers, demanding that they respond and list five things they accomplished in the past week or be fired. The White House has since distanced itself from the email, saying responses are voluntary, after several department heads, including FBI Director Kash Patel, ordered their employees not to respond.
