Elon Musk says he’ll step back from DOGE starting in May

Elon Musk says he plans to step back from his work at the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, starting in May.

In a Tesla earnings call, Musk said next month he would continue to spend a day or two" each week on DOGE matters probably for the remainder of the president's term," but would spend the bulk of his time focused on his electric car company.

Starting next month, I'll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla, now that the major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency is done," Musk said. He'd continue to support DOGE for as long as the President would like me to do so, and as long as it is useful."

He'd continue to support DOGE for as long as the President would like me to do so, and as long as it is useful."

Musk's status as head of DOGE has come increasingly under scrutiny, with Tesla investors begging him to step down from the controversial project and focus more attention on Tesla, which is undergoing a major sales slump.

As a special advisor to the Trump administration, Musk was limited to just 130 days under the designation. Rumors had been growing that he would leave the White House as his influence appears to be waning," according to The Washington Post. And earlier this month, Politico reported that President Trump has been telling his inner circle, including members of his Cabinet, that the billionaire CEO would take on more of a supporting role in the weeks to come.

Musk's role with DOGE has led to a nationwide protest movement called Tesla Takedown, with increasingly large crowds gathering at Tesla showrooms and charging stations around the world to express their anger about spending cuts and chaos in the government.

In the call, Musk acknowledged that there has been blowback" over his role at DOGE, though he put the blame on unidentified groups of people who have been the recipients of wasteful dollars" that his group has set out to eliminate.

They're obviously not going to admit that the reason that they're protesting is because they'rereceiving fraudulent money or that they're the recipients of wasteful largess," Musk said. ButI don't think I can come up with some other reason."

Musk claims that DOGE has been successful in reducing waste and fraud" in the federal government. But many of those claims have been refuted. The group's Wall of Receipts" have contained numerous errors; last month, the New York Times reported that DOGE erased or altered more than 1,000 contracts it had claimed to cancel, representing more than 40 percent of all the contracts listed on its site."

But whether investors get their wish and Musk does actually spend less of his time with DOGE is likely to remain a shifting target.

I'll have to continue doing it for the remainder of the president's term,just to make sure that the waste and fraud that we stop does not come roaring back, which it will do if it has the chance," he said. So I think I'll continue to spend a day or two per weekon government matters, for as long as the President would like me to do so,and as long as it is useful."

Update, April 23rd:Added mention of Musk expecting to continue his government work through the end of Trump's term, more details about DOGE's work, and Musk's claims about the Tesla Takedown movement.