Elon Musk plans to limit his work with DOGE as his time at the Trump White House drops 'significantly'
Elon Musk announced he will reduce his involvement in Washington, focusing more on his companies as his work with DOGE is "mostly done." Starting in May, he plans to spend only a day or two per week on government matters. Despite Tesla's struggles in 2025, its stock rose 4% after Musk's announcement. He expressed ongoing support for DOGE but left many promises unfulfilled, including significant budget cuts. Overall government spending has increased slightly in 2025, despite the intended effects of DOGE.
Elon Musk says he will lessen his time in Washington starting next month as President Trump nears 100 days in office as the world’s richest man says his work setting up DOGE is "mostly done" and plans to turn much of his focus back towards his companies.
"My time allocation will drop significantly," the billionaire Tesla (TSLA) CEO announced on that company’s quarterly earnings call Tuesday afternoon suggesting that starting in May he’d be focused much less on the White House.
“I think I'll continue to spend a day or two per week on government matters for as long as the president would like me to do so and as long as it is useful,” he added.
Musk faced increasing pressure to focus more on his CEO duties as a leader or owner of Tesla, rocket company SpaceX, social media site X, among other companies.
Tesla in particular has had a rough 2025 so far and is down about 40% on the year but jumped 4% in after hours trading following Musk’s late afternoon announcement.
Also in Tuesday afternoon’s call, Musk reiterated his support of the overall DOGE effort, claimed without evidence that protests against Tesla were coordinated, and offered a bullish message on the future of Tesla.
He also said of tariffs that it's a "decision is entirely up to the president of the United States” while reiterating his often expressed desire for lower duties.
Musk has changed Washington after forging a tight bond with Trump during the 2024 campaign but has also struggled to work with the president’s other aides and with political realities in the nation's capital.
Musk’s more limited role leaves the fate of his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort in limbo with many of his top promises unfulfilled.
Musk memorably promised during the 2024 campaign to cut “at least” $2 trillion from the annual federal budget before repeatedly struggling to implement overall changes in government spending and repeatedly downgrade promises.
A tracker of real-time government spending from the Brookings Institution shows that overall government spending in calendar year 2025 is actually slightly up from 2024 spending levels even as the effect of DOGE can clearly be seen on smaller agencies like the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
Click here for political news related to business and money policies that will shape tomorrow's stock prices
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
