Elon Musk says he’s ready to leave DOGE next month, Tesla stock surges in anticipation

Elon Musk said Tuesday he’s preparing to step back from Washington starting May, just as Tesla tries to recover from a brutal financial quarter.

Speaking during Tesla’s earnings call, Elon confirmed that his work at President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will drop “significantly” by next month. The company’s stock shot up nearly 5% in after-hours trading once the words left his mouth.

Elon told investors that while he’s stepping back, he’ll still help out with DOGE “to make sure that the waste and fraud that we stop does not come roaring back.” He also said he’ll continue spending “a day or two per week” on government work “for as long as the president would like me to do so.”

The comment came just minutes after Tesla reported a 20% drop in automotive revenue and a 71% collapse in net income for the first quarter.

Elon Musk’s political influence is dwindling after he spent nearly $300 million to elect Trump

According to the Associated Press, Elon created DOGE after putting nearly $300 million into Trump’s 2024 campaign, which helped return him to the White House and made Elon the country’s “First Buddy,” as he so calls it.

Over the past three months, DOGE has hacked away at agencies that include the IRS, National Park Service, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the departments of Agriculture, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs.

DOGE also went after federal agencies responsible for keeping an eye on Elon’s businesses—namely, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. These offices saw major job cuts under DOGE while Elon remained in government.

The White House labeled Elon a “special government employee” back in February, a legal title that softens the ethics rules and lowers the bar for conflict-of-interest disclosures. The Justice Department says that category is for people working 130 days or fewer in a calendar year. 

By the end of May, the Trump administration will hit the 130-day mark, meaning Elon’s window for federal employment closes unless reappointed under a different label.

Tesla’s market value has nosedived during the same time DOGE has been active. The company has lost roughly $600 billion in market cap so far. At the same time, DOGE’s website—last updated Sunday—claims it’s saved the government $160 billion. But not everyone’s buying those numbers. DOGE has already deleted some of its most extreme savings estimates from the site, after pushback.

Tesla is still receiving backlash

Elon also addressed protests targeting Tesla, which have broken out across both Europe and the United States. On the call, he blamed “very organized” protest groups for the backlash and claimed—without proof—that some people were showing up because they were “receiving fraudulent money” or were “recipients of wasteful largesse.” He didn’t explain further.

The protests have added fuel to growing public anger over Elon’s political ties, including his open support of Germany’s far-right AfD party. Those affiliations have tanked brand trust in Tesla, especially overseas. Tesla is also struggling with an outdated lineup of electric vehicles and increasing competition from Chinese automakers.

The company posted its worst quarterly performance since 2022, and its stock is down 41% in 2025 alone. Despite those numbers, the stock spiked after Trump said Tuesday he’s not planning to remove Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, a move that briefly boosted investor confidence.

Inside government offices, DOGE staff have done more than trim jobs. In February, employees at the Department of Education said DOGE operatives physically pushed senior officials out of their offices, rearranged furniture, and installed white noise machines to block conversations. This chaos raised alarms on Capitol Hill. US senators warned that DOGE may have gained access to federal student loan data tied to tens of millions of borrowers.

Every move Elon made inside government—every agency he touched—is under even more scrutiny now as he prepares to pull back. Whether the cuts from DOGE hold or not, one thing is clear: Wall Street thinks Tesla might have a better shot with Elon spending more time in the office and less time breaking furniture in D.C.