Elon Musk will step back from his government role in the coming months, President Trump has reportedly told his inner circle.
Trump had appointed the Tesla and SpaceX CEO as a “special government employee” within the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tasking him with leading efforts to significantly reduce the federal workforce and dismantle various US agencies.
But both men have now agreed that it is time for Musk to develop an exit strategy and return to his businesses, according to Politico. However, they gave no specific date for this.
Some cabinet ministers, frustrated by Musk’s role as one of Mr Trump’s top advisers, have privately accused him of overstepping his authority.
By his own account, Musk has slashed the federal workforce since arriving in Washington, leading to mass layoffs and the closure of entire government departments.
President Trump remains pleased with Musk, however, despite the frustration of his cabinet ministers and will likely retain an informal role, according to Politico.
Musk and DOGE did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the report and it was not immediately clear if Musk would leave before his 130-day mandate is set to end in late May or early June.
Asked on Monday if he wanted Musk to stay beyond his 130-day term, Trump told reporters: "I think he's amazing, but I also think he's got a big company to run. At some point, he's going to be going back. He wants to."
Musk told Fox News last week that he was confident he would finish most of his work to cut $1 trillion in federal spending by the end of his 130 days.
Musk's potential departure does not necessarily mean the end of DOGE. The cost-cutting team's mandate expires on July 4, 2026, under an executive order Trump signed on January 20.
Shares of some companies, including government contracting companies, rose following the report. Shares of Musk's Tesla, which were down 2% in early trading after a sharper-than-expected fall in first-quarter deliveries, reversed course and were up about 5%.
A White House source has said that Musk's investors want him to return to his companies, that his work with DOGE would be done within 130 days, and that he had communicated that to the president multiple times.
Musk was not leaving before his DOGE work was done "and no one is pushing him out," the source added.
There has been growing unease across the US over Musk's blunt approach to cutting tens of thousands of workers from the government workforce.
Republican lawmakers have faced the wrath of angry voters at unruly town halls while many of DOGE's efforts have become the subject of lawsuits.
Tesla dealerships have been vandalised in the U.S. and abroad, and a nationwide protest against DOGE and Trump's agenda is planned for this Saturday.
On Tuesday, 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 U.S. civil service
