DOGE chief Elon Musk claimed Wednesday that his federal workforce slashing initiative so far has saved $160 billion — far less than his original projections — as the mega-billionaire Tesla CEO gave a sort of farewell to President Donald Trump’s Cabinet.
It’s “been an honor to work with your incredible Cabinet,” Musk told Trump at the White House on Wednesday. “I would just like to say thank you to everyone, It was an honor to work with you, so thank you for everything.”
“A tremendous amount has been accomplished in the first 100 days,” Musk said. “As everyone has said, it’s more than has been accomplished in any administration before. Ever. So this portends very well for what happens, for the rest of the administration.”
Musk said last week on a Tesla earnings call that his time spent running the so-called Department of Government Efficiency will drop significantly beginning in May, and that he plans to spend just a “day or two per week” on the government effort.
The New York Post reported Tuesday that Musk was no longer working out of the West Wing. But his DOGE lieutenants were still working in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is on the White House campus.
A report from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is seen as US President Donald Trump holds a meeting with his Cabinet, in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, of April 30, 2025.
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images
Trump told Musk on Wednesday, “We all want to thank you for your help. You really have sacrificed a lot. You’ve been treated very unfairly.”
Musk then quipped, “Well, they like to burn my cars, which is not great,” referring to a spate of vandalism targeting Tesla vehicles and locations since he began his DOGE program.
“But the vast majority of people in this country really respect and appreciate you, and this whole room can say that very strongly, you have really been a tremendous help,” Trump said.
“And you know, you’re invited to stay as long as you want.”
Trump’s Cabinet secretaries and other people in the room clapped at that comment.
When Trump said that DOGE had “saved” $150 billion with his initiatives to cut spending and reduce federal employee headcount, Musk chimed in, ”$160 billion, but who’s counting?”
Musk last fall said that DOGE would slash “at least $2 trillion” from the federal budget.
But during an interview in January, Musk downplayed that estimate.
“I think we’ll try for $2 trillion. I think that’s the best-case outcome,” Musk said. “But I do think that you kind of have to have some overage. I think if we try for $2 trillion, we’ve got a good shot at getting 1,” he said, meaning $1 trillion.
But experts say the number could be far smaller than even the $160 billion figure Musk quoted.
The nonprofit Partnership for Public Service has estimated that DOGE-related “firings, re-hirings, lost productivity and paid leave of thousands of workers will cost upward of $135 billion this fiscal year,” The New York Times reported.
Musk said in his Tesla earnings call last week that he would continue work on DOGE “for as long as the president would like me to do so, and as long as it’s useful.”
“But starting next month, I’ll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla now that the major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency is done,” said Musk.
