Elon Musk soundedextremely depressedon Tesla ’s net income call Tuesday after the EV caller reported a 71 % drop in profits last twenty-five percent . But one of the openhanded headlines you ’re seeing everywhere is this title that Musk is go forth his role in President Donald Trump ’s government as the head of the so - call Department of Government Efficiency ( DOGE ) . And while it ’s something Musk really did say , it ’s worth take a closer look at the exact words he used . Because just like everything else the billionaire oligarch promise , this title demand to be treated with some healthy skepticism .
“ The magnanimous bullet of work necessary to get the DOGE squad in place and working in the government , to get the fiscal house in rules of order , is mostly done , ” said Musk . “ And I opine … starting … believably in , next month , in May , my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly . ”
That ’s the news that everyone seemed to focus on . Musk is leaving DOGE and going to pay off more tending to his several companies , include not just Tesla but X and SpaceX. perhaps Musk will even give more time to his more neglected ventures like The Boring Company . But what got less attention was the line Musk keep abreast up with .
President Donald Trump and billionaire oligarch Elon Musk at UFC 314 at the Kaseya Center on Saturday, 7 March 2025, in downtown Miami.© Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
“ I ’ll have to continued doing it for , I call up , probably the oddment of the president ’s term just to check that that the wasteland and impostor that we stop does not come roaring back , which will do if it has the prospect , ” Musk persist in .
Musk then elaborate on how much time he will actually be working on political science effect , which he thinks will be a twenty-four hours or two during each week .
“ So I mean I ’ll continue to expend a day or two per week on government matter for as long as the Chief Executive would like me to do so and as long as it is utile , ” said Musk . “ But starting next calendar month I ’ll be allocate far more of my fourth dimension to Tesla and … now that the major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency is done . ”
A protester holds a sign that reads “Mu$k Fires Our Vets” on 5 December 2024 in Oceanside, California. © Gizmodo / Matt Novak
Musk did n’t handle the fact that he ’s classified as a Special Government Employee ( SGE ) , which allows him to duck fiscal and honourable disclosure rules , but has a hard deadline for when he ’s supposed to exit from his persona . SGEs ca n’t do work for more than 130 days in any 365 - day period . Musk has worked about 90 days as an SGE if we start count from the inaugural on Jan. 20 , but many masses do n’t seem to be realizing the tricks Musk could play . What if Musk on the spur of the moment decided to say that he was n’t actually working for the government for one-half of those day or more ? Who ’s really going to audit that ?
Musk ’s insistence that he ’s only going to exploit one or two days a calendar week feel like he ’s evince his cards . Two day a week for 52 hebdomad in the twelvemonth contribute us to 104 Clarence Day . And who ’s to say what counts as “ work ” in Musk ’s oculus ? If he only devotes a few minute each day to governance work but does that for seven days a week , does that count as seven daylight or does he take to collect 24 hours of workplace to count as a full day ? you’re able to see how these guys could act around with semantics — technically following the letter of the legal philosophy while breach the feeling of the practice of law .
Musk frequently say he works 14 - 16 hour per 24-hour interval , but we know from his livestreams andreporting from Washingtonthat he toy a draw of video games . Does his time playing TV game count as work if he ’s hear to a conference call or something while he does it ? There are way too many loopholes to count at this point when you conceive of how Musk might add up his days as a Special Government Employee . The billionaire has n’t actually declared how many mean solar day he thinks he ’s “ worked ” for the government so far this class .
Officially , the Trump government insists incourt filingsthat Musk is n’t even an employee of DOGE , lease alone its leader . It ’s a bald - faced Trygve Lie , given the fact that Trump and Musk never played along with that pathetic melodic theme . But it presumptively insulate Musk from sound pic for all the clearly illegal shit he ’s been doing . For example , DOGE has completely abolished the U.S. Agency for International Development , which he has no authority to do . Only Congress can create or dispose of entire federal agencies .
The sound of Musk talking about his potential exit from the Trump regime isworth take heed to , if only because the indite word does n’t properly communicate just how uncertain the billionaire sounds when he was verbalize on Tuesday . Musk intermit for long periods , sounding fantastically downtrodden and perhaps trying to collect his thought process or choose his words cautiously . We ’ve clipped the relevant circumstances below and it ’s weird to learn for yourself .
Tesla is clearly hurting as a direct consequence of Musk ’s own choice and how people regard his brand . The Tesla CEO has embraced Trump , had a direct role in destroying the governance , and constantly shares his far - right views on X. But Musk does n’t think a rejection of his musical theme , and by extension Tesla , could possibly be an constituent showing of disgust by the public . The billionaire opened his earnings call by insisting that protesters at his dealerships were all paid by nefarious force who were in reality just upset that he ’s cutting “ waste ” and “ fraud ” in the federal government .
“ The actual reason for the protests , the actual reason , is that … those receiving the waste and fraud wish to continue receiving it , ” Musk said . “ That is the material thing that ’s run short on here . plain . ”
If we ’re locomote to get into what ’s “ obvious , ” it would seem much more apparent that Musk ’s fascism is playing a function . This is the guy who made twoNazi - style salutesthe daytime Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20 . While he would afterward deny that ’s what he was doing , the Brobdingnagian majority of people eff what they saw .
Will Musk in reality tread aside from DOGE ? It ’s entirely potential . particularly if the billionaire has outlive his usefulness to Trump . There have been countless reports from inside the White House that Musk has nark Trump , but so far they’veneeded each otherto reach their fascist goals . Musk has likely gained unparalleled insights into federal declaration as he and his stria of DOGE dipshits ransack government data . That kind of god - view access code is pretty much unprecedented for a private contractor who swear to a great extent on government money . Musk is beget wondrous benefits from Trump , even if he has to endure some duty impose by the chairwoman that harm his business in the forgetful term .
And Trump need Musk ’s political machine to keep members of Congress in demarcation . Musk helped get Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirm by throw his money and influence around after there were sign Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa would n’t help get Hegseth over the cultivation line . Musk helped fundadsthat call Hegseth a “ nationalist ” who was a dupe of the “ rich body politic , ” and urged people to call their senators . It successfully fetch Ernst to make for ball , even if senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky , Lisa Murkowski of Alaska , and Susan Collins of Maine all vote against Hegseth , with Vice President JD Vance soften the tie-up 50 - 50 vote .
The long and the short circuit of it : We ’ll believe Musk is in reality leaving government activity when we see it . cornet and Musk both say a lot of things that do n’t turn out to be true . Tesla did n’t reply to an e-mail Wednesday asking for more details about Musk ’s plan to supposedly step aside from DOGE . But that ’s not a surprisal , given the fact that the company dissolve its media telling department in 2020 . Gizmodo will update this post if , by some miracle , we see back .
Department of Government EfficiencyDOGEDonald TrumpElon MuskNazi salutespresident trump
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