Elon Musk suggests he’ll have completed his goals with DOGE in May as Trump insists ‘I’d keep him as long as I could’
ELON Musk has revealed he'll leave the Department of Government Efficiency in May when his work is expected to be finished, despite President Donald Trump's insistence he wants to keep him as long as possible.
The X owner has spent most of Trump's first 100 days in office slashing government spending and giving the president crucial pieces of advice.
Musk was named a "special government employee" in January, a designation given to people with specialized expertise who join the government for a short period of time.
As a special government employee, he is granted a 130-day employment period, which would make his last day May 30.
On Thursday, Musk said that he could accomplish his goal of cutting $1 trillion in government spending by that deadline in an interview with Fox News.
"I think we will have accomplished most of the work [...] within that time frame," said the Tesla CEO.
White House sources told the New York Post the plan has always been to let Musk return to his usual life after the 130 days.
"Elon 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," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X on Wednesday.
DOGE'S FUTURE WITHOUT MUSK
When asked about Doge's future, Trump acknowledged that the goal was to operate fluidly without Musk at the helm.
"There will be a point at which the secretaries will be able to do this work and do it, as we say, with a scalpel," Trump told reporters on Monday.
Trump has been outspoken about his support of Musk's work with the Department of Government Efficiency, but has also hinted the tech genius won't be around for long.
Earlier in March, the president said, "I think he will know when it's time. He doesn't want to stay around."
Trump explained that Musk is busy juggling efforts with Space X and various other business ventures and would like to get back at the helm sooner rather than later.
"I think he's amazing but I also think he's got a big company to run and so at some point he's going to be going back," said Trump.
"He wants to. I'd keep him as long as I could keep him."
'MAJOR WASTE CLEANUP'
Since working at the forefront of Doge, Musk has claimed the department has cut tons of wasteful government spending.
Donald Trump and Elon Musk's complicated relationship
Former president Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk's relationship started rocky, but the pair have since reconciled, with Musk fully endorsing Trump and interviewing him on X Spaces on August 12.
In 2022, Elon Musk and Donald Trump publicly feuded on X, then still known as Twitter.
Trump called Musk a liar and "bulls**t artist" during a rally in Alaska.
"Elon is not going to buy Twitter," Trump said at the time.
"You know, he said the other day, 'I've never voted for a Republican.' I said, 'I didn't know that - you told me you voted for me. So he's another bulls**t artist, but he's not going to be buying it."
In response to Trump's critiques, the SpaceX founder clapped back.
"I don't hate the man, but it's time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset," Musk posted.
Musk also went on to buy X months later.
The X owner said he had previously voted mostly for Democrats since becoming a United States citizen in 2002.
Musk initially backed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to be the Republican Party's presidential nominee.
"My preference for the 2024 presidency is someone sensible and centrist," Musk wrote on X in 2022.
"I had hoped that would [be] the case for the Biden administration, but have been disappointed so far."
His shift in political parties might be attributed to his plummeting relationship with President Joe Biden who didn't invite Musk to the 2021 White House electric vehicle summit.
Despite their past issues, Trump and Musk's relationship took a turn in March after they met at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump was also previously against electric vehicles but has since changed his stance.
"I’m for electric cars," he said at a rally earlier this month.
"I have to be, because Elon endorsed me very strongly. So I have no choice."
Following the assassination attempt at Trump's rally in July, Musk announced his support for the former president.
"I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery," Musk wrote on X after the shooting.
During a recent press conference, Trump spoke highly of Musk.
"I respect Elon a lot. He respects me," he said.
"Elon, more than almost anybody I know, he loves this country. He loves the concept of this country, but like me, he says this country is in big trouble, it’s in tremendous danger."
Musk has been pictured at events at Mar-a-Lago and the UFC, buddying up with Trump.
Trump selected Musk to lead the Department of Government Efficiency - a taskforce aimed at cutting bureaucracy.
“This is a revolution and I think it might be the biggest revolution in the government since the original revolution," he said.
The Tesla owner was tasked by the Trump administration to find $1 trillion worth of savings by 2026 and claimed DOGE's goal is to cut waste and the deficit by $4 billion a day, seven days a week.
On Monday, Doge announced that 10 million Social Security records were updated.
Doge shared on a post on X that Social Security "has been executing a major cleanup of their records."
"Approximately 9.9 million number holders, all listed age 120+, have now been marked deceased. Another ~2 million to go," the agency wrote.
The agency shared that it is using a former limestone mine to store 22,000 government file cabinets.
The files include federal government retirement applications, totaling about 400 million sheets of paper.
The facility in Boyers, Pennsylvania, is 220 feet below ground and has been used as a record-storing hub since the 1950s.
Musk called the storage facility a "time warp."
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Currently, 700 workers are processing about 10,000 retirement applications every month.
The facility is monitored by 24/7 security and has surveillance cameras, reducing the risk of any possible espionage.