Elon Musk wants to fire poor-performing federal employees, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) complained Thursday, explaining why he opposes Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) efforts to eliminate government waste, fraud and abuse.
Schumer was speaking on the Senate floor explaining that he would vote for Republicans’ budget bill to keep the government funded because allowing a shutdown would give Musk more ability to fire employees who are in unnecessary jobs – or who are doing a bad job:
“Musk told reporters – if the job is not essential or they are not doing it well – they obviously shouldn’t be on the public payroll.
“Many federal employees and government experts are rightly worried that a temporary government would lead to permanent cuts.”
Indeed, Musk’s DOGE is working to save taxpayers from having to keep funding the salaries of government employees who are lazy, inept or unneeded.
Elon Musk: “If the job is not essential or they're not doing the job well, they obviously should not be on the public payroll.”
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) February 26, 2025
Mass firings are coming. pic.twitter.com/OmO1PQXvDw
In February, for example, Musk called on federal employees to email a list of a few of their accomplishments in the past week – just as he did with Twitter’s CEO before he purchased and renamed the popular social media platform.
Musk also wants the federal government to stop paying the salaries of other employees – those who are dead or don’t actually exist.
“[W]e think there are a number of people on the government payroll who are dead, which is probably why they can't respond" and others are “fictional individuals that are collecting a paycheck,” Musk explained at a recent White House Cabinet meeting