Elon Musk appears to officially confirm he's stepping away from DOGE: 'Back to sleeping in factory rooms'

WASHINGTON, DC: After weeks of rumors about his role in Washington, Elon Musk has seemingly confirmed he’s stepping away from government duties as head of DOGE.

With SpaceX’s Starship launch coming up and plans to push Tesla and X forward, Musk is back on the factory floor.

The billionaire Tesla boss took to X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, May 24, with a no-nonsense update.

"Back to spending 24/7 at work and sleeping in conference/server/factory rooms. I must be super focused on X/AI and Tesla (plus Starship launch next week), as we have critical technologies rolling out," he wrote.

Critics blame Elon Musk for 'brand destruction'

Musk’s pivot comes on the heels of some heavy backlash. On the 'Pivot' podcast, NYU marketing professor Scott Galloway called Musk’s political involvement “one of the greatest brand destructions.”

Galloway pointed to polls showing Tesla’s drop from the eighth-most reputable brand in 2021 to 95th in 2025.

According to Galloway, Musk’s deep ties to President Donald Trump — and particularly his role in the controversial DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) — have cost him major points with consumers.

“He’s alienated the wrong people,” Galloway said. “Three-quarters of Republicans would never consider buying an EV. So he’s cozied up to the people who aren’t interested in EVs.”

But while Tesla sales may be slowing in the US and Europe, Musk’s focus seems to be on innovation over optics.

Elon Musk hands off DOGE to Project 2025 mastermind

Elon’s involvement with DOGE started almost immediately after Trump took office in January. But while the budget cuts won cheers from the MAGA base, they also sparked backlash from the left - especially since Musk holds no official government title. This was after the Tesla titan reportedly donated $200 million to the Trump campaign through a Super PAC in 2024.

Now, he’s handing the reins of DOGE to Project 2025 mastermind Russell Vought following some alleged behind-the-scenes drama with Trump’s cabinet. Rumors of tension have been bubbling and it looks like things finally hit a wall, according to the Irish Star.

Musk is also dealing with legal trouble in key swing states. Voters are accusing him of stiffing them on payments tied to a petition circulated by his Super PAC. During Trump's 2024 campaign, Musk’s PAC offered voters in seven battleground states $47 and later $100 for signing and sharing a petition.

The doc pledged “support for the First and Second Amendments,” and even promised cash for each new registered voter brought in.

Elon Musk focuses on X, Tesla, and the Starship launch

While the media’s been dissecting his moves, Musk’s eyes are back on the mission. X, which he bought in 2022, has been making waves lately for all the wrong reasons. The site has been plagued with outages and is reportedly now worth 72% less than what he paid for it.

"As evidenced by the X uptime issues this week, major operational improvements need to be made," Elon wrote. "The failover redundancy should have worked, but did not."

Meanwhile, Starship’s big launch is scheduled for next week.

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