Musk revealed Tuesday that he will dedicate less time to DOGE starting next month, as Tesla suffers from blowback to his work for Trump, which has spurred dozens of lawsuits, protests and even vandalism.
DOGE's general goal is shared broadly among White House officials, who have pushed for major cuts to the size of the federal workforce.
But with its unofficial leader taking a step back, DOGE sits in a precarious position, as it remains unclear whether the initiative has enough momentum to drive forward with Musk's ambitious goals on its own.
"Musk is personally driving this," said Matt Calkins, CEO of software firm Appian, adding, "I believe that he's gathered people who have a similar attitude, but there's nothing like having the captain on board the ship."
Musk is serving in the administration as a "special government employee," which requires him to leave his role after 130 days.
When asked last month whether he would depart at the end of this period, the tech billionaire signaled he planned to wrap up his work.
"I think we will have accomplished most of the work required to reduce the deficit by a trillion dollars within that timeframe," Musk told Fox News host Brett Baier, even though federal deficits have increased since Trump took office.
He more explicitly confirmed his plans to wind down his work at DOGE on Tesla's quarterly earnings call Tuesday, although he suggested he would not entirely depart the administration.
"Starting probably next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly," Musk said.
"I'll have to continue doing it for, I think, the remainder of the president's term just to make sure that the waste and fraud doesn't come roaring back, which we'll do, if it has the chance."
The Tesla CEO said he will likely spend one to two days of the week on "government matters" while dedicating "far more of my time to Tesla now that the major work of establishing" DOGE is "done."
The announcement came as a relief to the company's investors, who have watched with growing concern as Musk's work in the Trump administration has weighed significantly on the EV firm.
"The clock struck midnight — he had to choose Tesla or DOGE," Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said. "The brand damage that it had seen globally, the only way it ends is if Musk takes a big step back from DOGE and the Trump White House."
"DOGE took on a life of its own that I think even Elon underestimated," Ives added.
Read more in a full report at TheHill.com tomorrow.
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