Musk Calls Government Efficiency Project ‘Somewhat Successful,’ But Says He Wouldn’t Do It Again

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has publicly reflected on his brief and controversial tenure leading the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), stating that the project was “somewhat successful” but that he would ultimately not take the role again. 

Musk’s comments, made on “The Katie Miller Podcast” on Tuesday, suggest a mix of pride in the unit’s cost-saving efforts and regret over the intense political fallout that impacted his core businesses. 

A Successful but Regrettable Stint
Musk, who was a major supporter of the President’s re-election campaign, spearheaded the DOGE initiative in the first five months of the second term, aiming to slash the federal budget and workforce. 
“We were a little bit successful.

We were somewhat successful. We stopped a lot of funding that really just made no sense, that was entirely wasteful,” Musk explained on the podcast.

The Department had claimed to have saved tens of billions of dollars, though external financial experts have struggled to verify the full extent of the cuts due to a lack of detailed public accounting. 

However, when asked if he would go back and lead DOGE again, the tech billionaire was unequivocal: “No, I don’t think so.” 

The High Cost of Government Work
The main deterrent, according to Musk, was the severe political backlash directed at him and, critically, his companies

“I think instead of doing DOGE, I would have basically worked on my companies. And they wouldn’t have been burning the cars,” he said, referring to public protests and vandalism directed at Tesla vehicles earlier this year.

Musk’s intense focus on the D.C. project also sparked significant concern among investors, who worried that he was diverting too much attention from Tesla during a period of slowing sales. 

Musk abruptly stepped down as the head of DOGE in May 2025 after a public disagreement with President Trump over a sweeping tax and spending bill, which Musk criticized as undermining the department’s cost-cutting mission.

The DOGE unit itself has since been disbanded, according to Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor. 

While Musk maintains that DOGE achieved significant—if not entirely verifiable—success in cutting wasteful spending, his comments suggest the personal and corporate costs of his foray into Washington politics far outweighed the professional reward.