Tesla CEO Elon Musk plans to spend less time working in Washington, particularly with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — a federal agency the businessman focused on to help President Donald Trump slash government spending and cut thousands of jobs.
Musk announced his plans to step back from DOGE after a Tesla earnings report showed a profit drop of 71% on Tuesday, April 22, according to the New York Times. Tesla, an electric automotive company, earned $409 million, down from $1.4 billion in the first quarter of 2024, according to the earnings report.
During the call, Musk added he would spend “a day or two per week” for “as long as it is useful” on Washington matters starting in May, the New York Times reported. The shift in focus comes after investors and analysts called on Musk to spend more time on Tesla and limit or end his work with Trump due to some backlash over Musk’s role with the government, the publication noted.
While unofficially overseeing DOGE, Musk has helped the department send email terminations to thousands of employees, such as the probationary workers in the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service. DOGE also attempted to gain access to sensitive data and payment systems at the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department and sought to dismantle the US Agency for International Development, according to Business Insider.
Due to his work with the government, protests occurred at Tesla showrooms around the nation. As he steps back, Musk said he can focus more time on Tesla and his other businesses, most are in Texas.
Musk has significantly invested in and moved his businesses, including SpaceX, Tesla and X (formerly known as Twitter). Starbase, SpaceX’s launch site and headquarters in South Texas at Boca Chica, is on the verge of becoming a new city. Residents who live near the launch site are set to decide whether or not to incorporate Starbase as a city during an election early next month. If it goes through, three unopposed candidates — all of them SpaceX employees — would become the town’s first mayor and city commissioners.
Last September, Musk reportedly confirmed Bastrop to be the new headquarters for X. Company executives quietly filed paperwork to secure a space for X in Bastrop, just about 34 miles east of Austin, according to court filings obtained by Forbes. Bastrop is also the home of other Musk ventures, including SpaceX, the Boring Company, the Boring Bodega and a new X safety support center.
In Austin, Musk has his Tesla headquarters, which could keep growing. Tesla officials recently outlined a vision plan for the gigafactory’s renovated riverfront, with nearly four miles running along the factory that could be transformed into key ecological connection points to existing facilities like Austin’s Colony Neighborhood Park Trail and the Hornsby Bend Bird Observatory Trail Head.