Elon Musk joined the first cabinet meeting of US President Donald Trump’s second term, where he announced a goal to cut the federal deficit by $1 trillion by 2026, on Wednesday, February 26.“If we don’t do this, America will go bankrupt,” Musk said. “That’s why it has to be done.”Musk had previously said his goal was to cut $2 trillion, but has since walked back the claim.On Wednesday, Musk said the “What did you do last week?” email sent to all federal employees by his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative over the weekend was a way to identify dead or “fictitious” employees on the government payroll, referring to it as a “pulse check” in the meeting.Many federal employees did not respond to the email, and Trump referred to those employees as being “on the bubble” in Wednesday’s cabinet meeting.Musk also admitted that DOGE accidentally canceled Ebola-prevention measures advanced through USAID, saying that the cost-cutting agency fixed its mistake quickly. The DOGE ledger tracking their cuts has been found to be riddled with errors, according to The New York Times. Credit: The White House via Storyful