Trump Signals Early End To Musk’s DOGE Experiment

President Trump appears to be orchestrating a graceful exit for Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, acknowledging that while he would “keep him as long as I could,” the billionaire entrepreneur “has a big company to run” and will eventually return to his private sector responsibilities. This diplomatic framing comes amid mounting evidence that Musk’s government reform crusade has fallen dramatically short of its ambitious goals.

DOGE, originally intended to operate until July 4, 2026, “could be reaching a conclusion faster than anticipated,” according to PBS NewsHour. Signs of this accelerated timeline include DOGE employees being shifted to various federal agencies and government-wide layoffs already underway to accomplish cost-cutting initiatives.

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The Trillion-Dollar Reality Check

The most visible indicator of DOGE’s diminished expectations came April 11 when Musk announced the department would lower its projected savings from $1 trillion to just $150 billion – an 85% reduction that stands in stark contrast to his March 27 Fox News interview where he confidently declared his team was on track to eliminate $1 trillion by May’s end.

According to DOGE’s own website, the agency had saved an estimated $155 billion as of April 14, amounting to approximately $960 per taxpayer. This falls significantly short of the $5,000 stimulus checks many supporters had anticipated, leading Musk to temper expectations at a Wisconsin rally, stating such payments would ultimately be “somewhat up to Congress and maybe the president,” as reported by Commercial Appeal.

Cabinet Resistance Mounting

Behind the scenes, Musk’s unilateral approach has created friction with Trump’s cabinet. In a telling episode last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent successfully lobbied for the removal of Musk’s handpicked IRS acting commissioner Gary Shapley just days after his appointment, securing “the president’s approval to send Musk’s pick packing,” according to The New York Times.

This represents just the latest example of Musk “repeatedly rankl[ing] certain members of Trump’s cabinet by failing to coordinate with them,” creating internal resistance that appears to be limiting his previously outsized influence in the administration.

The 130-Day Countdown Clock

Musk’s government tenure operates under regulatory constraints that limit special government employees to 130 working days in a 365-day period – a timeline that would place his departure around late May or early June. While White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back against reports of his imminent exit, stating on X that Musk will leave only “when his incredible work at DOGE is complete,” Trump’s comments suggest preparations for transition are already underway.

When asked directly if DOGE would continue without Musk, Trump demurred, saying Cabinet officials have worked closely with Musk and may retain some DOGE personnel at their agencies, but adding tellingly: “at a certain point I think it will end.”

Personal and Professional Setbacks

Musk’s political capital suffered a blow when his chosen candidate for Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race lost despite his $21 million personal investment and campaign appearance. After previously declaring the race “important for the future of civilization,” Musk attempted to reframe the defeat, writing on X: “I expected to lose, but there is value to losing a piece for a positional gain.”

Complicating matters further, Musk faces business challenges at Tesla, which saw a 13% drop in sales during the first quarter of 2025 – suggesting his attention may be increasingly needed at his primary ventures as his brief but tumultuous government experiment appears to be winding down with considerably less fanfare than when it began.

For an administration that entered office promising to disrupt Washington’s status quo, the scaling back of DOGE represents a tacit acknowledgment that government reform may require more than a billionaire’s bold promises and a metaphorical chainsaw to achieve meaningful, lasting change.

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