Tech billionaire and presidential adviser Elon Musk provided a timetable for his departure from the government as his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is working to slash federal spending by $1 trillion as an initial goal.
During an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier on Thursday, Musk was asked about his special government status, which means he can only serve 130 days in the government.
“We want to reduce the spending by eliminating waste and fraud, reduce the spending by 15 percent, which seems really quite achievable,” Musk said. “The government is not efficient, and there’s a lot of waste and fraud. So we feel confident that a 15 percent reduction can be done without affecting any of the critical government services.”
Making note of Musk being a special government employee, Baier asked: “Are you going to continue past that? Or do you think that’s what you’re going to do?”
Musk responded by saying that he believes DOGE “will have accomplished most of the work required to reduce the deficit by a trillion dollars within that time frame.”
“So in that time frame, 130 days?” Baier asked.
Last month, the White House confirmed that Musk is a special government employee, meaning he can avoid rules about possible conflicts of interest or his finances that generally apply to other government employees. Rules around such employees also say that they can work no more than 130 days out of a 365-day timeframe.
In the interview with Fox News, Musk said the number of workers who were laid off amid DOGE’s attempts to slash funding has been a small minority compared to those who voluntarily accepted buyout options. He and his team then said that the way the government handles payments, records, and other databases has been outdated and wasteful and that a more efficient system should be adopted.
Since President Donald Trump created DOGE via an executive order, the organization has accessed several federal agencies’ systems for audits and recommended cuts, drawing criticism from Democrats and a number of lawsuits.
In a notable ruling last week, a federal judge blocked DOGE from accessing Social Security systems that may contain personally identifiable information of Americans, siding with plaintiffs who argued in a lawsuit that the group’s access may pose a privacy risk.
U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander wrote in her order that DOGE must also delete any personally identifiable data it may have and questioned the group’s mission to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse.
“The American public may well applaud and support the Trump Administration’s mission to root out fraud, waste, and bloat from federal agencies, including SSA, to the extent it exists. But, by what means and methods?” the Maryland-based judge wrote. “The DOGE Team is essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA, in search of a fraud epidemic, based on little more than suspicion.”
Days later, another federal judge blocked DOGE from accessing sensitive personal information at three federal agencies: the Department of Education, the Department of the Treasury, and the Office of Personnel Management.
