2 days Ago By Matthew Medsger
The end of Elon Musk’s time as a special government employee is apparently drawing near, and his upcoming move away from the Trump administration may also signal the end of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, President Donald Trump seemed to indicate . Musk’s non-Senate confirmed position within the White House is time-limited by law, and as a consequence he can only serve 130 days as a special government employee in any given year. According to Trump, Musk has done a fine job so far, but eventually he’s going to have other things to worry about.
“I think he’s amazing but I also think he’s got a big company to run and so at some point he’s going to be going back,” Trump told reporters from inside the Oval Office on Monday. Trump said he’ll hold onto the world’s richest man “as long as I can keep him,” because Musk is “a very talented guy.” “I love very smart people and he’s very smart and he’s done a good job,” the 47th president said.
“I like high IQ people. At some point Elon’s going to want to go back to his company.” When asked what would become of DOGE without Musk around, Trump said that when Elon goes, DOGE may go with him.
The secretaries of the departments Musk has cut have had more than enough time to get their feet under them, Trump said, and going forward they can continue the quest for efficiency with a more surgical approach than the “chainsaw” style put to use by Musk. “There will be a point at which the secretaries will be able to do this work and do it as we say, with a scalpel,” Trump said. Musk’s short time in the White House is slated to conclude at the end of May, but the first half of his government tenure has been marked by concerns over alleged conflicts of interest.
The South African billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX sees massive financial benefit from government contracts , and he’s been the subject of numerous investigations and lawsuits brought by federal agencies overseeing his businesses. Since Trump’s inauguration, many of the departments conducting those investigations have seen cuts, at least one of the lawsuits has since ended, and he’s lined up potentially billions more in new contracts. DOGE is scheduled to close down next year, to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the nation.
Trump, when announcing his plan to “create” the quasi-department (the executive order he eventually signed did not make a new department, but renamed the United States Digital Service as DOGE, and it is not a cabinet-level department or, according to Trump Administration lawyers , even an agency of the federal government) described the move as the “Manhattan Project of our time.” “Their work will conclude no later than July 4, 2026 – A smaller Government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy, will be the perfect gift to America on the 250th Anniversary of The Declaration of Independence. I am confident they will succeed!” Trump said in November.
Judging by Trump’s Monday statements, DOGE may be out of time. “A lot of the people that are working with DOGE are the secretaries, you know, the heads of the various agencies,” Trump said. “And they’ve learned a lot.
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