Musk could be heading for Washington exit after turbulent times at Trump’s Doge

Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump have recently suggested that the billionaire entrepreneur’s time in the administration might be running out.

Mr Musk says he could be done with his work at the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) in the near future.

Mr Trump has told reporters that Mr Musk will go back to running his companies and that Doge “will end” at some point.

All of that talk came before Mr Musk faced a setback on Tuesday in Wisconsin, where voters rejected his choice for a state Supreme Court candidate despite more than 21 million dollars (£16 million) in personal donations and his campaign appearance over the weekend.

There are more problems for the billionaire entrepreneur at Tesla, his electric vehicle maker, which saw a 13% drop in sales in the first three months of the year.

The White House has not disclosed any clear timeline for closing down Doge, and the government cost-cutting organisation was never supposed to become a permanent fixture in Washington.

But it could be reaching a conclusion faster than anticipated.

Doge was originally intended to operate until July 4 2026.

Now there are signs that it is already winding down.

Doge employees have been shifted to various federal agencies, which are supposed to take the lead on cutting costs.

Government-wide lay-offs are under way to accomplish some of the goals laid out by Mr Musk and Mr Trump.

“We think probably over the next two or three months, we’ll be pretty much satisfied with the people that are working hard and want to be members of the administration,” Mr Trump said last week.

The potential end of Doge does not mean Mr Trump will stop shaking up Washington.

But it appears the administration’s efforts will be entering a new phase that is less focused on Mr Musk, whose chain saw-wielding work as a presidential adviser made him a political lightning rod.

Doge was initially envisioned as an independent advisory panel, with Mr Musk sharing leadership with Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur.

Mr Ramaswamy dropped out and is running for Ohio governor, and Doge became part of the government.

It was stocked with Mr Musk’s allies, who were dispatched throughout the bureaucracy to cancel contracts, access sensitive data and push for cuts.

Mr Musk presumably has a ticking clock on his tenure.

He was hired as a special government employee, which means he can only work 130 days in a 365-day time period.

“I think we will have accomplished most of the work required to reduce the deficit by a trillion dollars within that time frame,” Mr Musk told Bret Baier of Fox News on March 27.

So far Doge is well short of that target, according to its own calculations, which have been criticised as inflated and inaccurate.

Mr Musk did not commit to leaving the administration by any particular date, and it is unclear how the administration is tracking his time.

On May 30, it will be 130 days since Mr Trump’s inauguration on January 20.

Mr Trump told reporters on Monday in the Oval Office that “I’d keep him as long as I could keep him” and “he’s a very talented guy”.

The Republican president was known for explosive break-ups with top advisers during his first term, but anyone hoping for such a split with Mr Musk has been disappointed.

“I think he’s amazing, but I also think he’s got a big company to run,” Mr Trump said.

“And so, at some point, he’s going to be going back.”

Asked if Doge would continue without Mr Musk, Mr Trump demurred.

He said cabinet officials have worked closely with Mr Musk and may keep some of the Doge people at their agencies.

“But at a certain point I think it will end,” Mr Trump said.

Mr Musk’s poll numbers lag behind Mr Trump’s, which Democrats believe they were able to use to their advantage in Wisconsin.

Susan Crawford defeated Brad Schimel, who Mr Musk supported, and ensured the state Supreme Court’s liberal majority.

In the closing days of that campaign, Mr Musk described the race as “important for the future of civilisation”.

He struck a different tone afterwards.

“I expected to lose, but there is value to losing a piece for a positional gain,” Mr Musk wrote on X at 3.13am.