Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk is preparing to scale back his involvement with the Department of Government Efficiency, the controversial cost-cutting initiative he has led for President Donald Trump’s administration since January.
In a TV interview this week, Musk indicated he plans to significantly reduce his commitment to DOGE beginning in May, intending to dedicate just “a day or two per week” to the government effort while refocusing on his struggling electric vehicle company.
Musk compared the troubled agency to Buddhism while facing mounting criticism over its methods and effectiveness. “DOGE is a way of life, like Buddhism,” he told Fox News in a recent interview.
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And then himself to Buddha when asked who would lead the initiative after his departure.
“Is Buddha needed for Buddhism?” he wondered.
Musk announced during Tesla’s April earnings call that he would scale back to spending just “a day or two per week” on DOGE beginning in May, shifting focus to his struggling electric vehicle company after it reported steep drops in sales and revenue.
Read: Tesla Q1 2025: Worst Quarter Since 2020
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The billionaire’s planned exit comes after a contentious 100-day tenure during which he claimed DOGE saved taxpayers $160 billion by eliminating or reducing government contracts, grants, and leases across 176 departments or agencies.
Army leaders, meanwhile, have taken matters into their own hands. “Don’t DOGE us, we will DOGE ourselves,” Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and General Randy George told Musk at a March White House meeting, according to NBC News. The military is now implementing its own cuts independent of Musk’s team.
Read: Musk Reports $150B In Savings, Dwarfed From Promised $1 Trillion DOGE Cut
Critics paint a far darker picture of the initiative, with New York Times opinion writer Julia Angwin characterizing DOGE as “assembling a sprawling domestic surveillance system” that is “gathering personal data about U.S. residents from dozens of federal databases.” Multiple lawsuits challenging DOGE’s data practices have resulted in court orders limiting its access.
Despite falling far short of Musk’s initial January promise to cut $2 trillion from government spending, DOGE reports show the initiative has targeted the US Agency for International Development most aggressively, with claimed cuts of $24 billion.
President Trump endorsed Musk’s continued part-time involvement with DOGE during a cabinet meeting. “You’ve been treated unfairly, but the vast majority of Americans truly respect and appreciate you,” he said.
Musk’s 130-day appointment as a special government employee is set to expire May 31. He maintains the initiative has been engineered to make its cuts difficult to reverse: “We’re trying to have it be such that the funding is removed so the grants are gone.”
Related: Senate Report: Musk Could Avoid Over $2 Billion in Legal Liabilities Through DOGE Role
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