Panelists on CNN's Inside Politics gave their theories Thursday on the reasons why Elon Musk has completely eschewed Washington now that his allotted time overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency is up.
"It was too hard for him," correspondent Jeff Zeleny declared. "He caved to political pressure here, and business pressure — that's what's so interesting. And now he's stepping out of politics. It's extraordinary."
Musk posted to X on Wednesday, "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."
But even as his official 130 days with the government has lapsed, nothing is preventing Musk from remaining in the political spotlight as an informal adviser to President Donald Trump on cutting "waste, fraud, and abuse" in the federal government.
That's not likely to happen anytime soon, seeing as how Musk's businesses suffered due to his association with the Trump administration. As Musk recently said in a video interview at the Qatar Economic Forum, “I think I’ve done enough.”
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New York Times investigative reporter David Farenthold claimed that Musk's government tenure was anything but a success, and that Musk wasn't able to live up to the expectations he set.
"They haven't shown us receipts," Farenthold said of the $175 billion DOGE claims to have saved the government. "When you look closely, you find that there's huge errors, many of which make DOGE savings seem bigger than they are. They double count the same things, they count things that actually happened under President Biden or even President George W. Bush. So, there's all kinds of guesswork and errors in there that pump that total up. We don't know what the real number is."
Musk had initially claimed he would find $2 trillion in savings.
Although some of the CNN panelists claimed DOGE was doomed to obscurity now that Musk was no longer there to push his agenda with Trump, Musk himself has hinted that DOGE will never die.
Dana Bash recounted a quote where Musk compared DOGE to Buddhism — with Musk playing the part of the Buddha — to illustrate that DOGE will survive even without Musk at the head.