Musk on “The Katie Miller Podcast”.Image: The Katie Miller Podcast
Elon Musk spoke in more detail about his work at DOGE for the first time in “The Katie Miller Podcast” and surprised us with some statements.
December 10, 2025, 10:01 amDecember 10, 2025, 10:40
At the beginning of the year, the government agency Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was still considered a prestige project of the Trump administration.
DOGE boss Elon Musk promised a lot at the time: efficiency, savings, streamlining the state apparatus – just like Javier Milei in Argentina, Musk wanted to use a chainsaw.
But after a falling out with US President Trump, Musk withdrew from Washington after DOGE made a number of (negative) headlines. The tech billionaire’s withdrawal was the beginning of the end for the newly created authority.
Steve Davis, who took over from Musk, was unpopular with many employees, there were numerous moves to other government agencies, and this ultimately led to the collapse of DOGE. The prestigious object was buried quietly and secretly in the USA.
Musk surprises with statement
Musk has now spoken in more detail about his work at DOGE in “The Katie Miller Podcast” for the first time and surprised us with some statements.
For example, he says that he is no longer entirely convinced that his “crusade to eliminate government waste through DOGE was worth the chaos” that he created.
When asked whether DOGE had achieved what was hoped for, he said: “We were a little successful, we were somewhat successful,” but the deep roots of waste were too big a hurdle.
He also expressed some doubts about the efficiency of the agency’s work: “There were probably zombie payments worth 100 or even 200 billion dollars per year,” he says, but DOGE was “only able to eliminate a fraction of them.”
Musk would no longer want to run DOGE
When the moderator asked him whether he would lead DOGE again in the same role, Musk hesitated:
“I think, no, I don’t think so,” he says. “I think instead of running DOGE, I would have taken care of my companies instead.” And adds: “Without the political storm, they wouldn’t have burned cars.”
In the podcast, Musk not only spoke openly about his work at DOGE, but also about many personal things. About migration, Charlie Kirk or AI. However, it is the first time that the South African critically questioned his work at DOGE. Until now, he had always praised his work at DOGE highly.
The entire, hour-long interview can be viewed here: