Musk to reduce time spent at DOGE; refocus on Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced Tuesday that he will scale back his involvement with the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) starting in May and return to focusing more on his electric vehicle company.

“As people know, there’s been some blowback for the time I’ve been spending in government with the Department of Government Efficiency,” Musk said on the call on Tuesday. “I think, starting probably next month—May—my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly. I’ll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla.”

Musk said the major work of setting up DOGE was now complete, but he plans to continue spending “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’s useful.”

Musk joined the Trump administration as an advisor and assumed a de facto leadership role at DOGE, where he was tasked with reducing federal government size and spending.

In his remarks, Musk said the protests and criticism aimed at him and DOGE stem from entrenched interests resisting reform. “Those who were receiving the wasteful dollars tried to attack me and the DOGE team and anything associated with me,” he said, adding, “The actual reason for the protests is that those receiving the waste and fraud wish to continue receiving it.”

Musk’s comments followed Tesla’s first-quarter earnings report, in which the company missed expectations.

Revenue dropped 20% year-over-year, as the company faced growing competition from China, an aging vehicle lineup, and reputational challenges in the U.S. and Europe—partly tied to Musk’s political affiliations, according to CNBC.

Tesla’s stock rose 4% in after-hours trading to $247.31, as investors responded positively to Musk’s announcement that he will refocus more of his time on the company.