Elon Musk has shut down a report that revealed he would continue his work with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) once his 130 day window with the government body expired.
A report from Politico stated that when Musk’s role as a ‘special government employee’ at DOGE expires at the end of May, he would continue in some capacity in an “informal role” as an adviser.
Musk was granted the distinction of Senior Adviser to the President when DOGE was established via an executive order by Donald Trump last January. DOGE seeks to analyse and investigate government spending that is characterised as “wasted, fraud and abuse”.
Both Trump and Musk confirmed that the latter’s government role would only be carried through a 130 day window, ultimately ending towards the end of May.
However, the Politico report suggests that due to growing frustrations from Trump supporters around the perceived “unpredictable, unmanageable force” Musk has become, with the President mindful of appeasing his House majority in order to win next year’s midterm elections.
Despite this, Musk has responded to the report labelling it “fake news” in a response post on X from White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt.
Leavitt posted: “This “scoop” is garbage. Elon Musk and President Trump have both *publicly* stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete.”
Musk has been closely aligned to Trump before and after his election as the 47th President of the US. He backed Trump’s campaign openly and landed his role at DOGE in a bid to streamline federal spending.
While both Musk and Trump collectively agreed that it would be in his best interests to resume his work on his businesses, like X Corp, Tesla and SpaceX, once his 130 day window expires, Vice-President JD Vance revealed that Musk’s work with DOGE is “not even close to done”.
These comments may conflict with the White House’s reiteration that Musk will be stepping down from DOGE and his advisory role to the President, with Trump himself even acknowledging the window could be extended if more work needed to be done for Musk in March.
This is not to say that Musk’s role with DOGE has been met with backlash. Protest gathered outside of US Treasury Headquarters last February over growing concerns over Musk’s presence over US payment systems.
