DOGE gets lackluster review from old boss Elon Musk: 'Somewhat successful'

Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of SpaceX and Tesla, said during a podcast interview on Tuesday that the Department of Government Efficiency was "somewhat successful," and claimed he would not return to government to do it again, according to a new report.

Musk appeared on "The Katie Miller Podcast" on Tuesday, hosted by Katie Miller, who is married to President Donald Trump's deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller. Axios reported on Tuesday that the interview offered a rare glimpse into Musk's views on how the government agency he led performed, amid reports that workers were dissatisfied with their time at DOGE.

"We were a little bit successful," Musk said during the interview. "We were somewhat successful."

Trump created DOGE as one of the first actions of his second administration. The agency was given a two-year mandate to slash government spending, with Musk projecting that it would cut around $2 trillion from the federal budget.

However, DOGE struggled to cut spending and reports indicated that it massively inflated its successes. For instance, the New York Times reported in February that DOGE claimed to have cut $8 billion from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a figure that was later revised to $8 million.

DOGE also claimed to have cut $655 million from the USAID budget, when the total saving amounted to $18 million, the Times reported.