A group of 77 Democrats has called on the White House to commit to a May 30 deadline for Elon Musk to finish in his unprecedented role inside the government, arguing the DOGE billionaire must step down by then under federal law.
In a letter to the president, led by Rep. Greg Casar of Texas, the lawmakers alleged that Musk had used his position as a so-called “special government employee” to enrich himself while slashing billions from the federal government and impacting key services.
“In his short time in government, Elon Musk has done enormous harm to working Americans,” the Wednesday letter, obtained by Axios, read. “Musk’s reckless destruction of government agencies has led to everything from seniors having challenges accessing Social Security to veterans losing access to care at VA hospitals.”
It also pointed to federal actions like Musk’s SpaceX winning billions in federal contracts this month as potential conflicts of interest, with the lawmakers saying they “demand that you stop ignoring federal law and ethics rules to empower an unelected billionaire.”
The Democrats are asking the White House to publicly commit to the deadline, given the requirement that special government employees only serve 130 days in office.
The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.
In February, after weeks of confusion in court and officials sidestepping the question, the Trump administration confirmed that Musk was considered a “special government employee,” a temporary posting that allowed him to avoid certain disclosures required of federal workers. It also stated that a little-known administrator named Amy Gleason was the actual head of the U.S. DOGE Service agency.
Earlier this month, news reports broke that Donald Trump was reportedly telling close allies that Musk planned to leave soon, though the White House pushed back against the stories, while leaving the billionaire’s ultimate exit date unclear.
“Elon Musk and President Trump have both *publicly* stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X.
Musk himself has said he believes much of DOGE’s work will be done by the end of May.
“I think we will have accomplished most of the work required to reduce the deficit by a trillion dollars within that time frame,” he told Bret Baier of Fox News last month.
According to DOGE, the spending-cut program has achieved roughly $150 billion in savings so far, though the initiative has been caught posting inflated or inaccurate data about its efforts.
The Government Accountability Office is reportedly auditing DOGE over its sweeping access to sensitive government data across agencies like the Social Security Administration.
