Washington: US billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has announced that he plans to spend less time working for the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and will focus more on his Tesla electric vehicle manufacturer.
“Starting probably next month, May, my time obligation to DOGE will drop significantly,” Musk said on Tuesday, as quoted by NBC News, during a Tesla call with investors, concerned about drops in the company’s profits.
Tesla announced on Monday that its quarterly earnings had dropped by 71 percent. Musk, the CEO of Tesla, reportedly admitted in March that his work for the US government had hit the company’s stock price.
“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 for as long as it is useful, but starting next month, I’ll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla, now that the major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency is done,” Musk said on Tuesday.
The entrepreneur reiterated during the Tesla call, as cited by NBC News, that he wanted to shift Tesla away from the electric car business into two new products: robotaxis and humanoid robots.
The Washington Post reported on Monday, citing a source familiar with the matter, that Musk was considering leaving his post as the head of DOGE due to attacks from the political left.
Created by an executive order of US President Donald Trump on January 20, DOGE is tasked with cutting wasteful spending and restructuring federal agencies. Musk’s status within the federal government has long been unclear as the DOGE under his command is consultative in nature. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has described him as a “special government employee.”
US President Donald Trump said earlier in April during a meeting with members of his administration that Musk “has done a fantastic job, but he hasn’t been treated properly.” A number of vehicles made by Tesla have been targeted across the US, in what the entrepreneur as well as US Attorney General Pamela Bondi, have described as “domestic terrorism.” In March, Trump bought a Tesla car to show support for Musk.
