Elon Musk Isn’t Really ‘Leaving’ the Government, but He Is on Everyone’s Shit List

Elon Musk wrote a tweet Wednesday night explaining that his “scheduled time” as a Special Government Employee was coming to an end, leading many news outlets to conclude he was done with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). And while it seems clear Musk has worn out his welcome with President Donald Trump, it’s naive to portray the billionaire oligarch’s announcement as a sign he’s truly “leaving” the U.S. government.

“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @RealDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending. The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government,” Musk wrote on his social media platform X.

That tweet was followed up by reporting in the Associated Press, New York Times, and Washington Post that indicated Musk was actually departing and would have no more influence over the Trump White House. But Musk’s extensive ties to the government, which existed long before DOGE came into existence, were treated as an afterthought.

The Washington Post article took 17 paragraphs before it acknowledged that “Musk has numerous business ties to the federal government, including major contracts for Starlink and SpaceX.” The New York Times piece on the palace intrigue didn’t include any mention that Musk is a government contractor who receives billions of dollars through SpaceX.

Those articles also failed to note what’s perhaps the most critical fact: Musk has installed his henchmen in virtually every federal agency and has gained access to untold amounts of private and proprietary data that business rivals would kill for. Take Edward Coristine, the 19-year-old member of DOGE who goes by the name Big Balls. Coristine has been listed as an “expert” at the Office of Personnel Management, according to Wired, and there are no public reports that indicate he’s leaving the government along with Musk.

Musk has sat down for several Fox News interviews with other DOGE members at his side, none of whom seem to be “leaving” government either. Luke Farritor, the 20-something DOGE bro who would reportedly “veto” payments for HIV/AIDS programs over the objections of top officials at USAID? No signs he’s left. Marko Elez, the 25-year-old who was pushed out after being linked to extremely racist tweets, only to be quickly rehired? That guy is still on the government payroll, as far as we can tell. The list goes on.

And who do you think these young men swear their allegiance to? The U.S. Constitution, or their hero Elon Musk? Is there any universe in which we believe that all of these DOGE plants throughout the federal government are just earnestly working on rooting out “waste, fraud, and abuse” rather than providing Musk with everything he could ask for at the drop of a hat?

The only person who seems to have “left” the government to work on Musk’s other projects was Katie Miller, the supposed spokesperson of DOGE and wife of White House advisor Stephen Miller. There’s no doubt that the internal gossip about conflict between Musk and other people in the Trump regime is interesting to read. The speculation on Bluesky Wednesday night was that Musk was in a throuple with Stephen Miller and his wife Katie Miller. That stemmed from a Wired article where a longtime Republican operative said he didn’t want to know anything about their social life, suggesting it was weird.

The fact that rumors about an unholy throuple are dominating the conversation tells you where our interests often lie as human beings. There are only so many news stories you can read about DOGE gutting vital scientific and public health programs or firing hundreds of thousands of workers before it feels like old news. We want to hear about the sex and the shouting matches, like when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent repeatedly yelled “fuck you” at Musk in a hallway of the West Wing, according to the Atlantic.

Musk and DOGE have faced several lawsuits over their brazen and almost certainly illegal actions. Fourteen states sued back in February in a case that’s still making its way through the courts. But those lawsuits aren’t nearly as salacious as the in-fighting. There’s something much more compelling to a story about two grown-ass men screaming at each other like children, for obvious reasons.

Where does that leave Musk, even assuming he really is stepping back from the White House? The billionaire has suggested repeatedly that he doesn’t want to spend money on politics anymore. But it’s important to remember that Musk frequently lies. Musk spent over a quarter of a billion dollars to help get Trump and other Republicans elected in 2024. This was after Musk insisted a Wall Street Journal report that he planned to spend big for Trump wasn’t true.

Lately, the billionaire has spent an inordinate amount of time whining. Practically every interview he does these days includes a story about how he’s the most put-upon man in the universe. People don’t like him and are protesting his Tesla dealerships, with some people even committing vandalism and arson. Musk doesn’t like to acknowledge that there’s a good reason that some people might not like him. This is the guy who started Trump’s second term by giving two Nazi-style salutes and waited a long damn time before even denying that’s what he was doing.

We don’t have a crystal ball that can tell us what level of involvement Musk will have with the Trump regime in the coming days, weeks, and months. But take everything you read with a big grain of salt. There are still plenty of folks who can look at companies like Tesla and SpaceX and The Boring Company and insist Musk’s renewed focus on their operations means that he’s leaving politics. If Musk’s tenure with DOGE has shown anything, it’s that literally every company Musk runs is political.

How can something like The Boring Company—the Musk venture that digs tunnels in the ground—be political? Gizmodo was writing about the politics of his vision for that company before it even had a name. Back in 2013, when Musk announced his idea for Hyperloop, we pointed out the biggest hurdle for that idea would be digging tunnels. And to dig tunnels, especially from Los Angeles to San Francisco, as was imagined, requires engaging in the politics of land use, permitting, and environmental concerns. You can have the most genius technologically driven idea in the world, but actually building it requires engaging in politics.

All tech is political, whether we like it or not. And Musk knows that. So don’t expect his supposed retreat from the White House to mean much in the years ahead.