WASHINGTON () Elon Musk got a round of applause from President Donald Trump’s Cabinet at its first meeting Wednesday, highlighting the billionaire’s growing influence in the administration.

“We’re going to start getting to be at a point where we can think in terms of balancing budgets, believe it or not, something you haven’t heard in many many years decades actually,” Trump said to the cabinet. Last year the U.S. deficit almost reached $2 trillion. 

Trump asked Elon Musk to get up and give some remarks in the cabinet meeting. He said the U.S. cannot continue with $2 trillion deficits and huge amounts of interest on the national debt. “This is a central” thing. Musk also disclosed he is “getting a lot of death threats.” Musk said he thinks that there around $1 trillion in savings that can be found.

“We will make mistakes. We won’t be perfect,” Musk acknowledged. “When we make mistakes we will fix it very quickly.”

“Some disagree a little bit,” President Trump said of Musk’s efforts, but said most are “thrilled.” 

Some criticized Musk’s presence at the meeting since his role within the administration is nebulous. He was said to be running the Department of Government Efficiency, but the Trump administration said in a legal filing he was not an employee.

“Elon is working with the Cabinet secretaries and their staff every single day to identify waste and fraud and abuse at these respective agencies,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters before the meeting. “All of the Cabinet secretaries take the advice and direction of DOGE.”

Also on Wednesday, three of Trump’s Cabinet picks Dean John Sauer, the nominee for Solicitor General; Harmeet Dhillon, nominee for the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for civil rights; and Aaron Reitz, nominee for assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s legal policy office face initial hearings and, if confirmed, would have influence over reproductive health care access nationwide.