Musk tells Cabinet that DOGE email was 'pulse check' for workers, warns US will 'go bankrupt' without action

Musk, standing in his signature black suit jacket with a T-shirt underneath, spoke at the meeting in which the media was present and made some clarifications about what he and DOGE are doing, as well as a recent email sent to government employees.

"I actually just call myself a humble tech support hero," Musk stated. "As crazy as it sounds, that is almost a literal description of the work of the DOGE team is doing is helping fix the government computer systems," he said, saying the computer systems are "extremely old" and there are many mistakes in the systems. 

"So we are actually tech support," Musk said. "It's ironic, but it's true." 

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

Musk said the task was "not a high bar" and should be something "anyone could accomplish." 

Musk explained that "our goal is not to be capricious or unfair" in how DOGE operates, and that the "overall goal here with the DOGE team is to help address the enormous deficit." 

"It is a central thing that's the reason I'm here. And taking a lot of flack, and getting a lot of death threats, by the way," he added. "But if we don't do this, America will go bankrupt. That's why it has to be done." 

Musk said he was confident that DOGE could find $1 trillion in savings, or roughly 15% of the $7 trillion budget, and thanked Cabinet members for their support. 

"We do need to move quickly," he said. "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."