In brief
During an interview on the 'Katie Miller Podcast', Elon Musk discussed his role at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), admitting that he would not undertake that responsibility again. He acknowledged the challenges of reforming the federal government and mentioned the impact on his businesses. Musk highlighted the agency's potential to save billions, yet criticized the ambitious savings projections previously made.
Mega billionaire Elon Musk, in a friendly interview with his aide and conservative influencer Katie Miller, said his efforts leading the Department of Government Efficiency were only “somewhat successful” and he would not do it over again.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who also owns the social media platform X, still broadly defended President Donald Trump’s controversial pop-up agency that Musk left in the spring before it shuttered officially last month. Yet Musk bemoaned how difficult it is to remake the federal government quickly, and he acknowledged how much his businesses suffered because of his DOGE work and its lack of popularity.
“We were a little bit successful. We were somewhat successful,” he told Miller, who once worked as a DOGE spokeswoman charged with selling the agency’s work to the public.
When Miller pressed Musk on whether he would do it all over again, he said: “I don’t think so. ... Instead of doing DOGE, I would have, basically, built ... worked on my companies.”
Almost wistfully, Musk added, “They wouldn’t have been burning the cars” — a reference to consumer protests against Tesla.
Musk credited the agency with saving as much as $200 billion annually in 'zombie payments' that he said can be avoided with better automated systems and coding for federal payouts. The savings projection is dwarfed by Musk’s ambitious earlier promises that an efficiency commission could measure savings in the trillions.
Still, things certainly have turned up for Musk since his departure from Trump’s administration. Tesla shareholders approved a pay package that could make Musk the world’s first trillionaire.
Musk was speaking as a guest on the 'Katie Miller Podcast,' launched after Miller's government service. The conversation lasted over 50 minutes, covering everything from DOGE to Musk's insights on AI and more. However, Musk's reflections on the intricacies of the DOGE agency were not deeply explored during the discussion.
