Musk warns of non-existent employee payments and says productivity emails act as a 'pulse check'

Elon Musk had a central role Wednesday in Donald Trump's first cabinet meeting, where he addressed the progress of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and explained the importance of the proposed federal employee productivity emails.

Musk clarified that the request for weekly reports on job accomplishments was not a performance evaluation, but a "pulse check" to verify the actual presence of workers on the government payroll.

"I think that email was perhaps interpreted as a performance review, but actually it was a pulse check review. Do you have a pulse? If you have a pulse and two neurons, you could reply to an email," he said.

The businessman noted that one of the government's problems is the existence of ghost employees and irregular payments. "We think there are a number of people on the government payroll who are dead, which is probably why they can't respond," he said, noting that there is suspicion of fictitious employees who continue to collect salaries.

"Somebody is collecting paychecks on a fictional individual, so we're just literally trying to figure out are these people real, are they alive, and can they write email, which I think is a reasonable expectation," he added.

If we don't act, "America will go bankrupt"

In his speech, Musk warned about the severity of the fiscal deficit, which already exceeds $2 trillion, and stressed that DOGE's goal is precisely to help address this problem.

"We spend a lot on the Defense Department, but we're spending like $1 trillion on interest. If this continues, the country will go, become de facto bankrupt. It's not an optional thing" he emphasized.

To address this situation, Musk proposed finding savings of at least $1 trillion, about 15% of the total government budget. "If we're to achieve $1 trillion deficit reduction in financial year 2026, it requires saving $4 billion per day every day from now through the end of September. But we can do it. And we will do it," he assured.