The White House has responded to reports that Elon Musk is leaving his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) role. 

In recent moments, DOGE has been at the heart of controversial moves to cut federal funding, foreign aid and a $25,000 award to help LGBTQ+ refugees. Musk himself has denied staging a “hostile takeover” of the US government, telling reporters in an 11 February press conference to ensure reporters he wants to add “common sense controls” to the Trump administration. 

On Monday (31 March), President Donald Trump suggested that the billionaire, who heads up the US government’s DOGE, will be transitioning out of the role.

He told reporters, as per Politico: “At some point, Elon’s gonna want to go back to his company. He wants to. I’d keep him as long as I could keep him.” It was not clear whether that would mean Musk would be leaving prior to his 130-day window as a special government employee. 

However, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denied the reports. She wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete.”

Despite his title, The White House previously confirmed that Musk has “no authority to make government decisions”. A White House spokesperson said in February that Musk’s actual title is “senior advisor to the president”, while DOGE aims to “maximise governmental efficiency and productivity”.

The three-page declaration states that Musk has “no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself”, which appeared to go against Trump and Musk’s public discussions of the department. 

At the Super Bowl this year, Trump appeared to attribute Musk to leading DOGE. “I’m going to tell [Elon Musk] very soon, like maybe in 24 hours, to go check the Department of Education,” Trump said in an interview at the sporting event to Fox News. “He’s going to find the same thing … Then I’m going to go, go to the military. Let’s check the military.”

The documents, provided to a federal court by Joshua Fisher, director of the White House Office of Administration, confirmed that Musk is not the official administrator of the department. However, Fisher did not state who the administrator is. 

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