Elon Musk suggests DOGE must persist, amid indications he might step down
The billionaire warns that if the cost-cutting initiative is discontinued, "waste and fraud will come roaring back."
TroibNews 
Elon Musk may be preparing to step away from Washington, but he maintains that DOGE should be viewed as a long-term project.
During a television interview, Musk stressed the importance of sustaining initiatives aimed at reducing government spending and dismantling entire agencies, even as indications suggest he could soon refocus on his beleaguered electric car company.
"It's a long-term enterprise because if we take our eye off the ball, the waste and fraud will come roaring back," Musk told Fox News.
This interview with the billionaire CEO of Tesla and his team involved in the Department of Government Efficiency initiative provided a significant platform for them to advocate for a project that has seen over 120,000 jobs eliminated, although it has not achieved the initial savings goals Musk envisioned.
Throughout the conversation, Musk and the DOGE team highlighted various instances of what they described as fraud within the federal government, despite the inability to verify their claims, some of which have previously been disproven.
According to DOGE, they have either shut down or restructured 11 federal agencies and assert that they have saved the government $160 billion, falling significantly short of the $2 trillion Musk pledged last year. Concurrently, overall government spending has risen, based on data from the Penn Wharton Budget Model.
President Donald Trump commented in a cabinet meeting on Wednesday that Musk “wants to get back home to his cars,” while also expressing that the billionaire is welcome to stay involved in his administration.
This week, Musk shared a tweet conveying that he is transitioning to a more strategic management role within DOGE but is not completely leaving the initiative. He noted that the cuts made are designed to be difficult to reverse, even if Democrats regain control of the White House.
“We’re trying to have it be such that the funding is removed so the grants are gone,” Musk stated. “There's a lot of work required to restart the waste and fraud. And that will at least slow it down.”
In a recent Tesla earnings call, Musk indicated plans to redirect more of his focus toward the company, which has experienced a significant decline in sales and revenue in the early part of the year amid widespread protests against the DOGE cuts.
Jessica Kline for TROIB News
During a television interview, Musk stressed the importance of sustaining initiatives aimed at reducing government spending and dismantling entire agencies, even as indications suggest he could soon refocus on his beleaguered electric car company.
"It's a long-term enterprise because if we take our eye off the ball, the waste and fraud will come roaring back," Musk told Fox News.
This interview with the billionaire CEO of Tesla and his team involved in the Department of Government Efficiency initiative provided a significant platform for them to advocate for a project that has seen over 120,000 jobs eliminated, although it has not achieved the initial savings goals Musk envisioned.
Throughout the conversation, Musk and the DOGE team highlighted various instances of what they described as fraud within the federal government, despite the inability to verify their claims, some of which have previously been disproven.
According to DOGE, they have either shut down or restructured 11 federal agencies and assert that they have saved the government $160 billion, falling significantly short of the $2 trillion Musk pledged last year. Concurrently, overall government spending has risen, based on data from the Penn Wharton Budget Model.
President Donald Trump commented in a cabinet meeting on Wednesday that Musk “wants to get back home to his cars,” while also expressing that the billionaire is welcome to stay involved in his administration.
This week, Musk shared a tweet conveying that he is transitioning to a more strategic management role within DOGE but is not completely leaving the initiative. He noted that the cuts made are designed to be difficult to reverse, even if Democrats regain control of the White House.
“We’re trying to have it be such that the funding is removed so the grants are gone,” Musk stated. “There's a lot of work required to restart the waste and fraud. And that will at least slow it down.”
In a recent Tesla earnings call, Musk indicated plans to redirect more of his focus toward the company, which has experienced a significant decline in sales and revenue in the early part of the year amid widespread protests against the DOGE cuts.
Jessica Kline for TROIB News
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