Whether or not Elon Musk actually steps back from the West Wing, federal workers want to know one thing.
“Can we stop sending this weekly email now?” an employee at the Internal Revenue Service asked.
Business Insider spoke to 17 federal workers after the Tesla CEO said on a Tuesday earnings call that he hopes to devote more time to the company because the “major work of establishing” DOGE is complete.
Several referenced the “What did you do last week” email required by Musk’s DOGE office since February. Many said they’re skeptical that Musk will forfeit his White House influence. Even if he does, some said Musk’s legacy will live on in DOGE through cuts to the federal workforce and government budget. Others are simply hopeful they’ll have one less weekly email to send.
As a special government employee, Musk is only legally allowed to work for the Trump administration for 130 days a year. Still, the federal workers BI spoke with said they expect him to continue making political headlines.
“My reaction is ‘I’ll believe it when I see it,'” a programmer at the IRS said, adding, “I believe the richest man in the world has hacked his way into the most powerful government in the world, and there is nobody to stop him from keeping that access, even if he looks ‘gone’ on paper.”
A former employee at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that they aren’t taking Musk’s announcement seriously. An employee at the Office of Personnel Management added that Musk’s vow to step back seems like “PR spin.”
Other federal workers said that, even if Musk does leave DOGE, his actions will have a lasting impact on the government and its staff.
“The effect he’s had on the federal government can’t be as neatly defined as quarterly earnings reports,” the OPM employee said. Several workers expressed concern over reports that DOGE and Musk have access to sensitive information like internal government databases and Americans’ Social Security details.
Some reflected on the anxiety that DOGE’s federal firing spree has caused in their own lives. A few said they are constantly worried about losing their livelihood. Federal workers who voted for Donald Trump and support his money-saving goals have also previously told BI they felt betrayed by Musk’s abrupt mass firings of what DOGE called “low performers.”
“There is a methodical way to downsize, and I’m all for right-sizing to meet current events,” a Department of Agriculture employee said. “The way Musk and his team have handled and are continuing to handle the situation is harmful to federal workers (who are real people with families), harmful to American institutions, and ultimately harmful to the American public.”
A Department of Defense employee hopes Musk’s stepping back will give them “a little relief” about their job security.
And then there are the possible effects on their day-to-day work. Several federal workers told BI they hope Musk’s departure signals the end of his “five bullets” email. It’s unclear what Musk and his colleagues do with the information or if it has directly led to any employee firings.
“I have to look and research and see what I did — that’s 10 minutes that’s wasted,” one Social Security Administration employee said, adding, “I could be spending my time more efficiently doing other things.” Another IRS employee said they send nearly the same email every week.
Musk said on Tuesday’s Tesla call that he will still spend a day or two a week on government matters, “as long as it is useful” to the president. When reporters asked Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday about Musk’s departure, he said that Musk “is an incredible guy” and “was a tremendous help both in the campaign and what he’s done with DOGE.” Neither Musk nor Trump elaborated on Musk’s future role in the administration.
The possible DOGE shake-up comes alongside plummeting first-quarter Tesla earnings. The electric vehicle company’s earnings per share and revenue were down 71% and 9% year over year, respectively. Musk said last month that his role in the White House is “costing me a lot” and that he’s running his businesses with “great difficulty.” With news that he could be retreating from Trumpworld, Tesla’s stock was trading up over 5% after hours and jumped again Wednesday.
One federal employee said they aren’t surprised Musk is leaning back into his CEO role. They said working in the government is likely “too much trouble for someone who is trained to see things as engineering problems.”
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