Establishing DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency) was one of the president’s initial executive orders, and it has been a busy 100 days or so. But now Elon Musk says it may be time for him to take a step back. Don’t worry, though: DOGE is a “way of life,” like Buddhism without Buddha, the billionaire explained. But what’s in store for Musk?
Elon Musk: A Special Employee
When Elon Musk took charge of DOGE, he was granted special government employee status, which allows him to work for no more than 130 days out of a 365-day period. The first 100 days of the Trump administration were, as Musk put it, “an intense period.” He actively worked for DOGE seven days a week – or close to it. Now that the agency is basically established, he’s taking a step back and will only work with DOGE a couple of days a week or every other week, but otherwise, “at the discretion of the President.”
He’s not quitting entirely, despite earlier reports that he was preparing to phase himself out. “I’m willing to contribute one to two days a week, coming to D.C. every other week for one to three days – indefinitely, as long as the president wants me to do that,” Musk told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “It’s largely a volunteer organization.”
“I’m keeping my micro-office,” he added. “I like my comically tiny office upstairs.” President Trump, for his part, says Musk is welcome to stay as long as he likes.
More Time for Tesla?
“A new administration is like a start-up,” Musk explained to the outlet. “Now, we’re getting more of a rhythm and so the amount of time necessary for me to spend here is much less and I can return to primarily running my companies, which do need me.” He explained that, while he’ll be around “for as long as the president would like,” he also said that, starting next month, “I’ll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla now that the major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency is done.”
It seems he now has more time for Tesla, but will the company take him back?
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal – citing anonymous sources, of course – Tesla’s board of directors began looking for a replacement CEO several weeks ago after a disappointing first quarter and Musk’s months of absenteeism while running DOGE. Keep in mind, of course, that the billionaire also runs X (formerly Twitter), SpaceX, The Boring Company, Neuralink, and xAI.
But Tesla is the flagship company, and the reported hunt for a Musk replacement was big news – also, it might be fake news, according to both Musk and the Tesla board. That’s the problem with anonymous sources; you never can tell when they’re blowing the lid off a big story or just blowing smoke. Was Tesla really looking for new leadership – but now the board is backpedaling ahead of his pending return? Was Elon hit with an ultimatum to either show up or ship out? Or was it all just an unsubstantiated rumor?
“It is an EXTREMELY BAD BREACH OF ETHICS that the [Journal] would publish a DELIBERATELY FALSE ARTICLE and fail to include an unequivocal denial beforehand by the Tesla board of directors,” Musk wrote on X Thursday morning. “WSJ is a discredit to journalism,” he wrote later in another post. Tesla Board Chairman Robyn Denholm chimed in, as well. “Earlier today, there was a media report erroneously claiming that the Tesla Board had contacted recruitment firms to initiate a CEO search at the company. This is absolutely false (and this was communicated to the media before the report was published),” she claimed in a statement shortly after the article’s publication. “The CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk and the Board is highly confident in his ability to continue executing on the exciting growth plan ahead.”
DOGE Discombobulation
In any case, Musk’s time in the administration is limited by the expiration of DOGE itself, right? Not so fast. While the agency was originally slated to dissolve on July 4, 2026, that may not be the plan anymore. The group may very well stick around for the whole presidential term, helping slash funding through the end of 2028, Musk told reporters during an hour-long chat in the White House’s Roosevelt Room, just outside the Oval Office.
“In the grand scheme of things, I think we’ve been effective,” he said of the DOGE run so far. “Not as effective as I like … but we’ve made progress.” So far, according to Musk and the DOGE website, the agency has saved about $160 billion, or just shy of $1,000 per taxpayer. But don’t hold out for that dividend check just yet – it’s “somewhat up to the Congress and maybe the president as to whether specific checks are cut,” Musk said during a speech in April. And many congressional conservatives would rather use that money to pay down the debt before sending leftovers to the people.
Then there’s the question of whether DOGE really saved that much money at all. Some of the receipts published on the agency’s “Work” page have been called into question. Others, like the cutting of federal employees (somewhere around 1% of the federal workforce is the current estimate), have associated costs that may or may not have been factored into that $160 billion figure. What about any laid-off worker who was rehired? What about the 75,000 or so who took the Fork in the Road buyouts?
Even if the claimed savings are accurate, there are those who question whether they’re worth the chaos. $160 billion is a far cry from the $2 trillion initially promised – or even the $1 trillion Musk now says he’d like to see per year. To put that in perspective, the interest payment alone on the national debt is estimated to be $1 trillion in fiscal year 2026, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That $160 billion in savings is about 16% of the payment – but it’s a start.
DOGE will keep on cutting through July 4, 2026, at least – and maybe for as long as Trump remains president. So there’s still time to hit a more impressive number with or without Elon Musk’s direct involvement.
