Tesla CEO Elon Musk has officially stepped down from his role as a Special Government Employee with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), ending his 130-day tenure.
Announcing his departure in a post on X, the tech billionaire thanked President Trump for the privilege of overseeing the affairs at DOGE and drastically reducing wastage.
He wrote,
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“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending. The DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government”.
During his tenure, Musk spearheaded DOGE’s aggressive cost-cutting measures, achieving $160 billion in savings by terminating contracts worth $255 million, modernizing IT systems, digitizing the OPM retirement process, cleaning Social Security records, and supporting voter integrity initiatives.
However, his efforts have drawn criticism for potentially causing $135 billion in lost productivity, legal challenges, and service disruptions. DOGE’s cuts targeted USAID, public broadcasters, national park budgets, and the Department of Education, and led to thousands of job losses and department closures, sparking widespread litigation.
The move also triggered intense blowback from Musk’s companies particularly Tesla. The EV company experienced a staggering 13% drop in vehicle deliveries in Q1 of the year its worst performance in history and Tesla’s stock plummeted by 45% before recovering slightly to a 10% loss. The company which is increasingly trying to diversify into high-tech products like robots said profits fell 71% to $409 million, compared with $1.39 billion during the same quarter one year ago.
Notably, Tesla’s decline has been widely attributed to Musk’s political entanglements and alignment with Trump, which alienated a portion of the brand’s customer base. The CEO himself admitted that juggling DOGE and his various companies has become a serious challenge: “It’s a tough setting,” he said.
Expressing concerns Tesla investors lamented that Musk’s role at DOGE was affecting the company’s revenue.
“The DOGE efforts have now intertwined Tesla into a brewing political firestorm,” analysts at Wedbush Securities wrote in a recent investor note.
“We believe this is a moment of truth for Musk and Tesla. If Musk continues to head down the DOGE path 110 percent and shows attention to Tesla during this turbulent time, the brand damage will become more pervasive”, the note continued.
Tesla’s stock tumbled 15 percent, the lowest the company’s shares have been since October and the largest drop since September 2020. However, Musk brushed off the numbers, writing on his social platform X that it “will be fine long-term.”
Last month April, Musk disclosed that he will begin dedicating more time to Tesla and less to his work with the Trump administration starting next month, providing a relief to Tesla investors fed up with his political work.
In a bid to douse mounting pressure, President Trump doubled down on his support of Musk and bought a Tesla outside the White House alongside the tech billionaire to make a statement.
He said,
“I’m gonna buy, because No. 1, it’s a great product. As good as it gets. No. 2 because this man has devoted his energy and his life to doing this, and I think he has been treated unfairly”.
With his exit from DOGE, Musk says he will now refocus on advancing Tesla’s core goals including the development of a fully autonomous ‘Cybercab’ with no steering wheel or pedals and has committed to leading Tesla as CEO for at least another five years.