Latest / Elon Musk Podcast / Elon Musk's feelings are hurt so he's stepping away from doge

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Elon Musk's feelings are hurt so he's stepping away from doge · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome back to the Elon Musk Podcast.
• 0:02
  I'm thrilled to share some exciting news with you over the
• 0:05
  next two weeks. We're evolving.
• 0:07
  We'll be broadening our focus to cover all the tech Titans
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  shaping our world. And with that, our show will
• 0:14
  become Stage 0. You'll still get the latest
• 0:17
  insights on Elon Musk, plus so much more, so stay tuned for our
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  official relaunch at Stage 0 coming soon.
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  So for the past four or five years, I've been bringing you in
• 0:28
  depth, no nonsense insights from the world of Elon Musk.
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  But I need your help to keep the show alive and growing.
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  If you'd love what you hear, consider supporting Stage 0 on
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  patreon@patreon.com/stage 0 News.
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  support goes directly into making this show absolutely
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  better, and it helps me keep bringing you the cut that you
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  enjoy every single day. If you're getting value from
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  Stage 0 news, becoming a patron is the best way to make sure
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  this journey keeps going. So let's make the next five
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  years even bigger together. There's a link in the show notes
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  just for you. Elon Musk appears ready to walk
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  away from his position in the federal government, according to
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  a report from the Washington Post.
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  And the reason he's giving is personal.
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  He's tired of what he sees as sustained, politically motivated
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  attacks from the left. His planned exit would bring an
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  end to a controversial and short lived chapter in government
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  service where the billionaire entrepreneur tried to apply
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  Silicon Valley style disruption to the bureaucracy of
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  Washington. Now, Musk currently leads DOGE,
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  a role he took on under special government employee status, and
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  that designation is set to expire at the end of next month
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  and sources familiar with his plans say he doesn't intend to
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  renew it. Musk reportedly believes that
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  his departure won't slow down the work of DOGE, since key
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  staff members have already positioned themselves across a
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  number of federal agencies and continue to push forward the
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  policies he introduced. But this potential exit comes
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  amid clear signs that his influence in government is
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  diminishing. Recently, the New York Times
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  reported that tensions flared with the administration after
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  Treasury Secretary Scott Bassett objected to Musk's appointment
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  of an acting IRS commissioner. Bassett accused Musk of
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  bypassing him to install his preferred candidate, who was
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  later removed in. This clash has been widely
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  interpreted as a signal that Musk is losing support inside
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  the federal government. Now, other government officials
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  have voiced similar frustrations and concerns.
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  Musk's cost cutting efforts, often implemented without
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  collaboration, have created confusion and at times,
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  resentment. One of his more controversial
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  moves was a directive issued in February that required all
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  federal employees under Doge's reach to submit a weekly e-mail
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  listing 5 completed tasks. Now, Musk said failure to comply
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  would be treated as a resignation.
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  He does this with all of his companies.
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  If he comes into the company, if he buys you, he usually sends
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  out an e-mail that asks you what you've done over the past week
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  and if you don't reply, just gets rid of you.
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  Now, that order was quickly challenged.
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  Just two days later, the Office of Personnel Management issued
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  guidance making it clear that these emails were optional, not
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  mandatory. They stated that employees
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  couldn't be forced out for not participating, and internal
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  emails revealed that the office didn't plan to analyze or use
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  the data being collected anyway. And since then, enforcement of
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  the policy has become inconsistent.
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  Some agencies dropped their requirement entirely.
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  Others kept it but made no effort to track or enforce
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  participation. Employees in some departments
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  reportedly began treating the exercise as a joke, copying the
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  same list each week or submitting sarcastic responses
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  to meet the letter of the rule without honoring its intent.
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  Now outside Washington, pressure is growing for Musk to return
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  his full attention to Tesla, where analysts say his
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  leadership is urgently needed. Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush
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  Sacred Securities, has described Tesla as being in a code red
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  state, and he blamed Musk's government involvement as a key
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  distraction. In a note to investors, he urged
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  Musk to step back from DOGE immediately and resume full time
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  leadership at Tesla. Tesla is Musk and Musk is Tesla
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  and anyone that thinks the brand damage Musk is inflicted is not
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  a real thing. Spend some time speaking to car
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  buyers in the US, Europe and Asia.
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  You will think differently about those discussions now.
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  I was also warned that Tesla's political associations could
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  result in a 15 to 20% long term drop in consumer demand.
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  You describe Tesla as having become a political symbol
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  closely tied to the Trump administration and the DOGE
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  program, which he argues is turning off potential buyers in
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  key markets worldwide. Now for civil servants, Musk's
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  short tenure has been jarring. While he did push for some
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  modernization efforts and cost reforms, the abrupt style in
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  which policies were introduced and then rolled back left many
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  employees confused and concerned.
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  Several government workers described the workplace, where
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  expectations change frequently and where directives from Musk
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  clashed with federal norms and federal procedures.
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  Even those who supported Elon Musk's gold acknowledge that his
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  tactics often did more harm than good.
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  The demand for weekly task emails, for instance, may have
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  been intended to boost accountability but instead
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  create a distrust and reset min among staff.
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  Many employees felt the rule wasn't about transparency but
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  about control, and when it was overturned, it further weakened
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  confidence in his leadership. Now the decision for Elon to
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  move on also matters for government oversight and public
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  trust. And influential figures like
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  Musk take on powerful roles without clear lines of
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  accountability or a clear plan that raises concerns about
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  transparency and proper governance.
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  His potential departure shows that it's difficult importing
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  private sector CE, OS and billionaire bad boys like Elon
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  to the public sector. The strategies, they cause
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  disruption, they cause harm. And right now, neither Musk nor
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  the White House have made an official statement regarding his
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  future with Doge, though, I think Elon is running scared.
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  He sees Tesla going down and he realizes that it's because of
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  him and what he's done. He's blaming it on the left.
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  People are attacking him not because of who he is, but
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  because the actions that he's taken with Doge and other
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  things. So he has to take accountability
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  and stop blaming other people. And that's what I think is
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  happening with Tesla. I think that's how people feel
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  about Tesla. So right now, they think he's a
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  bad guy. So they're not going to buy his
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  cars. There's no way.
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  There's no way they're going to buy a Tesla because Elon Musk is
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  a bad guy. Very simple.
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  If you have 3040 thousand $50,000 to spend on a car and
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  you don't like the person that runs the car company, you're not
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  going to buy that car. Just go someplace else.
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  There's cars that are similar. They don't have all the bells
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  and whistles of Tesla. They're good.
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  Buy a Rivian. Rivians are great.
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  You can buy a Subaru, not as good, but it's a cool car.
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  You can buy a Hyundai if you want to.
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  It's up to you. It's up to your political
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  beliefs and if you like the company's owners and CEOs.
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  So what's clear right now is that Musk's time in government
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  has been as unconventional as his corporate career.
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  His likely exit will end a chapter defined by his bold
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  moves in the government. And it had unpredictable
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  consequences. And he's expected to leave his
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  federal post at Doge next month and not re sign with the
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  government. His departure follows internal
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  conflicts, his failed policies, and outside pressure from
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  investors and friends and family to return to Tesla, SpaceX,
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  Neurolink, all of his companies full time.
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  Get out of the government. That's what they want.
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  Hey, thank you so much for listening today.
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  I really do appreciate your support.
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  If you could take a second and hit subscribe or the follow
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  And please, if you want to support the show even more, go
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  to patreon.com/stage Zero. And please take care of
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  yourselves and each other, and I'll see you tomorrow.