The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will be getting a new leader, as Elon Musk reportedly will be rotating back to a supporting role to get back to putting his focus on his private businesses.
The report comes from Politico sources citing President Donald Trump's messaging to senior Cabinet members.
No future leader for DOGE was being bandied about by the report.
"This 'scoop' is garbage," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded on X, confirming his eventual departure without giving a timetable, rejecting suggestions there was any news here.
"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."
Musk had a 130-day clock as a "special government employee" that would expire by early June, so this recent news of taking a step back from leading DOGE is not necessarily based on recent developments, including a Wisconsin State Supreme Court election loss to Democrats Tuesday night, domestic terror attacks on Tesla, and massive Democrat and judicial obstruction of DOGE efforts to cut waste, fraud, and abuse from long-entrenched forces in government spenders.
The Politico sources note Trump remains pleased with Musk and DOGE, despite some outside speculation there would be a rift that could develop between the two strong-willed leaders.
While White House sources told Politico that Musk would be "here to stay" for longer than the 130-day temporary status, it now appears Musk will move from mainstay at the White House to an informal adviser from outside.
But, ultimately, another source told Politico, critics would be "fooling themselves" if they thought Musk's informal advisement would not remain influential on the Trump administration.
Musk had said Sunday that working closely in the administration has cost him a lot of money, including the near $20 million put into the Wisconsin special election for the state Supreme Court seat that went the Democrats' way by 10 points Tuesday night.
A source told Politico that Trump's comments to the Cabinet about Musk sliding back from DOGE leadership came at the impromptu March 24 Cabinet meeting that came two days after the massive strikes on the Houthi rebels in Yemen and the ensuing controversy over a liberal media editor mistakenly getting the scoop by being added to a Signal chat.
Trump invited reporters into the Cabinet room after telling the closed-door Cabinet of Musk's stepping back, according to the report.
"Elon, I want to thank you — I know you've been through a lot," Trump said, according to Politico, calling him "a patriot" and "a friend."
Trump has said publicly Monday he wanted to "keep him as long as I could keep him," but "at some point, Elon's gonna want to go back to his company."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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