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Republicans ask Trump for details on Musk’s departure from DOGE after Politico ‘scoop’ is called ‘garbage’

April 3, 2025 | | Print Article

Congressional Republicans are reportedly confused over the fate of Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) boss Elon Musk thanks to the media’s “fake news” reporting.

The drama started Wednesday when Politico published a report claiming that President Donald Trump has told his inner circle that Musk will be stepping down from his role as DOGE boss sometime soon.

“The president remains pleased with Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency initiative but both men have decided in recent days that it will soon be time for Musk to return to his businesses and take on a supporting role,” Politico’s Rachael Bade claimed.

The reporting prompted immediate pushback from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who called it “fake news.”

“This ‘scoop’ is garbage,” Leavitt tweeted. “Elon Musk and President Trump have both *publicly* stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete.”

Look:

Musk responded in kind, tweeting, “Yeah, fake news.”

The problem is congressional Republicans don’t seem to have a clue what’s going on.

“Yeah, I don’t know that he’s going to leave totally,” House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain told the Daily Mail. “‘I’ve heard mixed on this so, and I haven’t heard anything from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.”

“I’ve heard everything from as a special appointee to the president, you’re only allowed to stay X number of days. I’m just giving you speculation,” she added.

She wasn’t wrong about the latter point.

Musk is classified as a “special government employee,” or SGE. And unfortunately, SGEs are term-limited to 130 days.

Also speaking with the Daily Mail, Sen. Tom Tillis seemed almost excited and ready for Musk’s departure.

“I think it was Musk who even said he was here on the front end [that he] wasn’t going to be here for a long time,” he said. “I don’t think anybody thought he’d be here for four years.”

“I think that there’s always a place for people pushing change, but at the end of the day, you have to institutionalize these efficiency measures in the agencies themselves,” the Republican continued.

President Trump himself hinted in remarks made Monday that Musk might indeed be gone once his 130 days are up.

“At some point, he’s going to be going back … I’ll keep him as long as I can keep him, he’s a very talented guy,” the president said. “I love very smart people, and he’s very smart, and he’s done a good job … I like high-IQ people. At some point, Elon’s going to want to go back to his company.”

Listen:

Musk himself acknowledged the 130-day limit while speaking last week with Fox News host Bret Baier.

“I think we will have accomplished most of the work required to reduce the deficit by $1 trillion within that time frame,” he said regarding the May 30th deadline.

Listen:

Vivek Saxena
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