After Elon Musk, Donald Trump hints at world’s richest man’s exit from DOGE | World News
US President Donald Trump has hinted that his key ally, billionaire Elon Musk, may quit his role as a senior White House adviser leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and will likely to go back to running his several companies full time.
The Republican leader’s remarks come amid increased public concern about the chaos and turmoil caused DOGE. The department helmed Elon Musk has faced backlash as people protest against cuts in government agencies, expenditure and termination of federal employees.
“I think he is amazing but I also think he is got a big company to run and so at some point he is going to be going back,” Trump was quoted as saying Politico. “He wants to. I would keep him as long as I could keep him,” Trump added.
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Trump also said that the influence of DOGE would linger because cabinet members and agency heads have “gotten a big education” from the experience. “There will be a point at which the secretaries will be able to do this work,” the 78-year-old said.
In addition to Trump’s remarks, the Tesla CEO Musk also passed a comment in a similar vein last week during an interview with Fox News saying, “I think we will have accomplished most of the work required to reduce the deficit a trillion dollars within that time frame.”
Rather than being a government department created an act of Congress, DOGE is a temporary organisation that took over an exing unit within the White House, the US Digital Service. It is set to expire on July 4, 2026.
Apart from the rising rage over moves made DOGE and Musk, the once high-flying Tesla appears to be heading for a major turbulence as the sales of its electric cars are declining around the world. The company’s share price declined 36 per cent in the first quarter.Story continues below this ad
Trump has been lauding the Starlink CEO for his role in slashing the size of the federal workforce and pausing thousands of government programs and contracts. Merely nine weeks after taking over, DOGE dismantled entire government agencies and tens of thousands of workers from the 2.3 million federal employees were terminated or agreed to take a buyout.
Those protesting against Musk say DOGE was given extraordinary power Trump and apparently it operates with no oversight and in secret while the Starlink CEO maintains it is transparent. DOGE staffers sweep through government departments looking for spending and staff cuts. Lawsuits challenge DOGE’s actions gave insights into the department’s operations, however, concerns were also raised whether Musk is actually in charge of DOGE. As per US government court filings, he is not, but Trump says he is, as per a Reuters report.
The world’s richest person does not draw a government salary and functions as a “special government employee” with a 130-day limit to his role in making drastic changes to federal bureaucracy. The wing was created an executive order Trump signed on his first day in office on January 29 to “modernise federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”
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