White House denies reports tech billionaire Elon Musk will leave early

Washington — The White House said on Wednesday that tech billionaire Elon Musk will stay on to complete his mission to slash government spending and downsize the federal workforce, dismissing media reports that he will leave the role soon.

Politico and ABC reported that US President Donald Trump had told members of his cabinet that Musk will soon depart and return to the private sector, though the reports did not make clear if that would mean Musk leaving before his 130-day mandate as a special government employee is set to expire late May.

Trump has tasked the Tesla and SpaceX CEO with leading efforts through the department of government efficiency (Doge) to cut government funding and reshape the federal bureaucracy.

“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 said.

Musk and Doge did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the reports.

On Tuesday, Musk and Trump suffered a setback as a liberal judge in Wisconsin won election to the state Supreme Court, easily defeating a conservative judge whose campaign had been heavily bankrolled by Musk and groups tied to him.

The vote had been seen as an early referendum on Trump’s presidency and Musk’s campaign to remake the US civil service.

Shares of some government contracting companies rose after the reports of Musk’s possible impending return to the private sector. Shares of Musk’s Tesla, which had been down more than 6% in early trading after a sharper-than-expected fall in first-quarter deliveries, reversed course and were up about 5% on Wednesday afternoon.

Musk told Fox News last week that he was confident he would finish most of his stated aim of cutting $1-trillion in federal spending by the end of his 130 days.

But in a March 10 interview with Fox Business Network, when he was asked by host Larry Kudlow, “You going to go another year?” Musk replied, “Yeah, I think so.”

According to the Doge website, the only official window into its operations, Doge estimates it has saved US taxpayers $140bn as of April 2 through a series of actions including workforce reductions, asset sales, and contract cancellations, still far short of Musk’s $1-trillion goal.

But evidence for the stated savings is often missing, and the website’s calculations have been riddled with errors and corrections.

Doge’s mandate as a whole is set to continue to July 4 2026. However, many of the top figures in Doge are tied to Musk and have not said whether they would want to stay on after the departure of the billionaire, who has been the ideological force behind the government overhaul.

There has been growing unease across the US over Musk’s blunt approach to mass layoffs from the government workforce. Nearly 200,000 employees have been fired, earmarked for termination or have accepted buyouts.

Republican legislators have faced the wrath of voters at unruly town halls, while many of Doge’s efforts have become the subject of lawsuits.

Tesla dealerships have been vandalised in the US and abroad, and a nationwide protest against Doge and Trump’s agenda is planned for this Saturday.

Reuters