Experts are warning that Elon Musk‘s cuts to waste, fraud and abuse at the Department of Government Efficiency may end up costing taxpayers billions.
Musk is currently planning to transition out of DOGE at the start of May to a more part-time role after share-holders questioned when he would go back to focusing on his work at Tesla.
Donald Trump has repeatedly lauded Musk, who has become a national lightning rod for spearheading the effort to slash agency spending, fire federal workers on short notice, and identify billions in savings by slashing unnecessary spending.
However, some are worried that Musk may have hurt the taxpayers as much as he’s helped them, with the ‘First Buddy’ claiming he’s saved $150 billion getting rid of around 12 percent of the federal workforce.
A nonprofit that studies the federal workforce, the Partnership for Public Service, said that all of the firings could cost over $135billion when factoring in lost productivity, paid leave and some workers being re-hired.
‘Not only is Musk vastly overinflating the money he has saved, he is not accounting for the exponentially larger waste that he is creating,’ Max Stier, the chief executive of the nonprofit said.
‘He’s inflicted these costs on the American people, who will pay them for many years to come.’
The Budget Lab at Yale University said that the 32,000 workers being fired at the IRS – 22,000 on DOGE’s advice alone – would cost $8.5billion in 2026 alone.
Experts are warning that Elon Musk’s (pictured right) cuts to waste, fraud and abuse at the Department of Government Efficiency may end up costing taxpayers billions
A nonprofit that studies the federal workforce, the Partnership for Public Service, said that all of the firings could cost over $135billion when factoring in lost productivity, paid leave and some workers being re-hired
There could be an even greater cost from the at least 30 lawsuits filed against the Trump administration that implicate DOGE.
A spokesman for the Trump administration seemed to confirm that the ‘monumental and historic’ cuts could have costs but that they were saving the taxpayers from wasting even more money.
‘It’s important to realize that doing nothing has a cost, too, and these so-called experts and groups are conveniently absent when looking at the costs of doing nothing,’ Harrison Fields told The New York Times in a statement.
Fields said of the IRS that ‘every single cut has been done to make the government more efficient and not to be a burden to the American people or cut any critical resources or programs they rely on.’
Musk has been a top advisor to President Trump, often at his side even during weekends travel and his decision to depart DOGE came as a shock to many. But his own poll numbers have taken a hit, amid relentless coverage of his ‘fork in the road’ email to federal employees and what Musk himself has called occasional ‘mistakes.’
That included such moves as suddenly firing nuclear safety workers, only to immediately hire them back, something that was cited as potentially costing the taxpayers even more money.
Trump praised Musk – at one point in the past tense – on Wednesday after the DOGE chief said he would pare back his government work to a ‘day or two’ per week after Tesla profits plunged.
‘He was a tremendous help both in the campaign and what he’s done with DOGE,’ Trump told reporters when asked about what role Musk would play in the future.
Trump praised Musk (pictured) – at one point in the past tense – on Wednesday after the DOGE chief said he would pare back his government work to a ‘day or two’ per week after Tesla profits plunged
He complained that Musk was ‘treated unfairly’ and said he ‘can’t speak more highly about any individual.’
The president spoke after the world’s richest man told Tesla shareholders Tuesday he would spend ‘significantly less time’ at DOGE beginning in May after earnings tanked in the first quarter of the year.
He now says he will spend ‘a day or two per week’ on government – after referencing long hours for himself and his team at the start of the Trump administration.
Trump complained that members of the public ‘took it out on Tesla’ amid controversy over DOGE firings.
‘I also know that he was treated very unfairly by the – I guess you call it the public – by some of the public, not by all of them. I say he makes an incredible car. Makes – everything he does is good. But they took it out on Tesla. And I just thought it was so unfair, because he’s trying to help the country.’
Trump himself bought a Tesla in a show of support as the company’s stock plunged.
‘I also want him to make sure that he’s going to be in great shape,’ Trump said, alluding to the car company’s problems.
‘And I told him, I said, “You know, whenever you’re ready. I’d like to keep him for a long time, but whenever you’re ready.’
‘He was a tremendous help both in the campaign and what he’s done with DOGE,’ President Donald Trump said of Elon Musk, who is cutting back his time working with the government
Trump praised Musk, his children, and his products, and said he was always going to leave around this time
‘He was always at this time going to ease out,’ Trump said of Musk, who is a designated Special Government Employee on a temporary assignment that can get renewed.
‘And when he goes back to Tesla, that’ll be taken care of,’ Trump said, predicting good things for the electric car company.
The automaker’s first-quarter profits cratered 71 percent, with the EV giant pulling in $409 million compared to $1.4 billion during the same stretch last year.
Wall Street expected better — and investors are clearly growing uneasy with the once-dominant EV brand.
The company’s stock price has shed nearly 40 percent of its value since January (though, it has regained some momentum after the earnings release) when Musk started serving as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and being spotted everywhere with Donald Trump.
Tesla’s first quarter earnings conference call allowed investors to ask what they wanted of the CEO and it was clear there was only one thing on their minds.
One asked: ‘Can Elon please provide some reassurance that at some point soon he will be done with DOGE and politics? Many Tesla shareholders wish he would reprioritize the majority of his time and effort to engineering.’
‘Starting probably in next month, in May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,’ Musk said on the call.
Musk has aligned himself with President Trump – a move that has angered fans who previously leaned more centrist and to the left
However, he still plans to put in one to two days per week still helping out with DOGE, he claimed.
But ‘starting next month, I’ll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla.’
Musk admitted that his forays into politics have likely damaged his company for the time being, though he added that the global economy was also to blame.
‘This dynamic, along with changing political sentiment, could have a meaningful impact on demand for our products in the near-term,’ he said.
The vibe shift around Tesla, once a crown jewel for liberal Americans, is very real.
The company sold huge amounts of electrified vehicles to tech and environmentally-minded consumers.
Tesla is largely credited for the rise in popularity of EVs, which represent over nine percent of new vehicle sales in the US annually.
But the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, has since pitched rightward, spending millions on President Donald Trump’s campaign and backing hard-right candidates in Europe.
That political pivot has turned off many of the progressive and centrist buyers who once lined up for Teslas.
Angry consumers have responded with impassioned, sometimes fiery, protests at Tesla dealerships.
And, Tesla’s sales have tanked.
Tesla Takedown, an organization that advocates for free speech rights at the dealership protests, took victory for the revenue and sales downfalls.
‘Today’s earnings report sends a very clear message: the Tesla Takedown grassroots pressure is beginning to hit Tesla where it hurts,’ the organization said.
‘The company’s bottom line.’
Despite the hit, Tesla remains the top-selling EV brand in the US and the most valuable automaker in the world by market capitalization.
