Elon Musk reportedly to step down from lead Trump role as service limit nears

By Joseph Gedeon

Elon Muskā€™s polarizing stint slashing and bashing federal bureaucracy will probably soon end, with the worldā€™s richest personā€™s government service hitting its legal limit in the coming weeks.

ā€œHeā€™s got a big company to run ā€¦ at some point heā€™s going to be going back,ā€Ā Donald TrumpĀ told reporters on Monday.

ā€œIā€™d keep him as long as I could keep him,ā€ the president added.

As a special government employee, Musk faces a strict 130-day cap on his service ā€“ probably expiring in late May if counted from the day of inauguration, despite earlier White House claims Musk was ā€œhere to stayā€.

Administration insidersĀ told PoliticoĀ on Wednesday that Musk would indeed be stepping down from his lead role in the weeks to come.

But MuskĀ calledĀ the reporting ā€œfake newsā€ and the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, on Wednesday said the Politico story was ā€œgarbageā€.

ā€œElon Musk and President Trump have both publicly stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at Doge is complete,ā€ she said.

The White House did not immediately respond to the Guardianā€™s request for comment.

While Musk looks for the exit door, his ā€œdepartment of government efficiencyā€ (Doge) is set to continue until 2026 under Trumpā€™s executive order, and high-level leaders installed by Musk to run agencies throughout the government are likely to outlast the billionaireā€™s tenure in public service.

Doge has operated figuratively ā€“ andĀ one time literallyĀ ā€“ with a ā€œchainsawā€ through government agencies since Musk joined Trumpā€™s team as an unvetted, high-level employee in January.

Doge has since triggered large-scale civil service layoffs including about 10,000 people at the Department of Health and Human Services this week alone, while moving to eliminate entire agencies such as humanitarian-focused USAID and the state-backed global media outlet Voice of America.

There have been an estimated 56,000 federal jobs cut since 20 January and another 75,000 accepting voluntary buyouts, with at least another 171,000 planned reductions, according toĀ the New York Times.

The huge cuts have not gone over well, accordingĀ to a new pollĀ from Marquette Law School, which found that just 41% of the US public approve of Dogeā€™s work, while Muskā€™s personal likeability was even lower, at 38%.

AĀ mid-March Quinnipiac pollĀ found that over half the country believed Musk and Doge were harming the US.

Doge claims $140bn in savings already ā€“ thoughĀ eagle-eyed reportersĀ have identified significant errors in these calculations. Musk told Fox News he expected to accomplish ā€œmost of the work required to reduce the deficit by $1tnā€ before his time expires.

The billionaireā€™s involvement has raised significant conflict-of-interest concerns given his companiesā€™ extensive government contracts, though as a special government employee, his financial disclosure forms remain confidential.

The nearly shuttered USAID had initiated an investigation on agency oversight into Starlink terminals sent to Ukraine, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau was targeted nearly a week after publishing a rule that would put technology companies such as X ā€“ which was planning a partnership with Visa ā€“ in its crosshairs over regulation, and many other agency attacks.

Democrats have increasingly targeted Musk politically, most recently criticizing his over $20m investment in a Wisconsin supreme court race. The New Jersey senator Cory BookerĀ broke the recordĀ for longest speech in Senate floor history after more than 24 hours assailing Trump and Musk.