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For months, DOGE chief Elon Musk wielded his new position in Donald Trump’s administration with crude efficiency, slashing federal agencies and their workforces under a professed mission to cut government spending. But the Tesla CEO appears to have worn out his welcome: American voters strongly disapprove of both Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency, according to numerous polls.
With Tesla reporting a drop in profits in its recent quarterly reports, Musk is signaling that his time in Washington might soon be coming to a close. “Now we’re getting more of a rhythm,” Musk told reporters Wednesday, per NBC News. “And so the amount of time that it’s necessary for me to spend here is much less, and I can return to primarily running my companies, which do need me.”
Musk’s comments to the media echoed similar sentiments he made on a quarterly call with Tesla investors last week, promising that he would devote more of his time to his work for the company. “Starting next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,” he said, according to CNN.
The Tesla CEO’s change in focus might be the result of some internal pressure. On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Tesla board members had made contact with several firms to begin the process of finding a new top executive for the multibillion-dollar car company, spurred in large part by Tesla’s plummeting stock price and Musk’s public focus on government matters.
However, Robyn Denholm, the chairman of Tesla’s board of directors, disputed the Journal’s reporting. “This is absolutely false (and this was communicated to the media before the report was published). 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,” she said in a statement. The Journal contends that the denial only came after publication.
Musk seized the opportunity to bash the Journal, writing on X, “It is an EXTREMELY BAD BREACH OF ETHICS that the @WSJ would publish a DELIBERATELY FALSE ARTICLE and fail to include an unequivocal denial beforehand by the Tesla board of directors!”
During a televised Cabinet meeting this week, Musk touted DOGE’s work, claiming the initiative has saved the federal government and the American taxpayer $160 billion. But he also acknowledged that figure fell far short of his initial lofty claim that he could provide $2 trillion in savings. “In the grand scheme of things, I think we’ve been effective. Not as effective as I’d like. I mean, we could be more effective, but we’ve made progress,” he said.
