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Musk will stay until he completes DOGE mission, White House says

Update Musk will stay until he completes DOGE mission, White House says
US President Donald Trump has told members of his Cabinet and other close contacts that his billionaire ally Elon Musk will soon step back from his government role, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing three people close to Trump. (Reuters/File)
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Updated 02 April 2025

Musk will stay until he completes DOGE mission, White House says

Musk will stay until he completes DOGE mission, White House says
  • Politico and ABC reported that US President Donald Trump had told members of his Cabinet that Musk will soon depart
  • Trump has tasked the Tesla and SpaceX CEO with leading efforts through DOGE

WASHINGTON: The White House said on Wednesday that tech billionaire Elon Musk will stay on to complete his mission to slash government spending and downsize the federal workforce, dismissing media reports that he will leave the role soon.
Politico and ABC reported that US President Donald Trump had told members of his Cabinet that Musk will soon depart and return to the private sector, although the reports did not make clear if that would mean Musk leaving before his 130-day mandate as a special government employee is set to expire around late May.
Trump has tasked the Tesla and SpaceX CEO with leading efforts through the Department of Government Efficiency to cut government funding and reshape the federal bureaucracy.
“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,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
Musk and DOGE did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the reports.
On Tuesday, Musk and Trump suffered a setback as a liberal judge in Wisconsin won election to the state Supreme Court, easily defeating a conservative judge whose campaign had been heavily bankrolled by Musk and groups tied to him.
The vote had been seen as an early referendum on Trump’s presidency and Musk’s campaign to remake the US civil service.
Shares of some government contracting companies rose following the reports of Musk’s possible impending return to the private sector. Shares of Musk’s Tesla, which had been down more than 6 percent in early trading after a sharper-than-expected fall in first-quarter deliveries, reversed course and were up about 5 percent on Wednesday afternoon.
Musk told Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier” last week that he was confident he would finish most of his stated aim of cutting $1 trillion in federal spending by the end of his 130 days.
But in a March 10 interview with Fox Business Network’s “Kudlow,” when he was asked by host Larry Kudlow, “You going to go another year?” Musk replied, “Yeah, I think so.”
According to the DOGE website, the only official window into its operations, DOGE estimates it has saved US taxpayers $140 billion as of April 2 through a series of actions including workforce reductions, asset sales, and contract cancelations, still far short of Musk’s $1 trillion goal.
But evidence for the stated savings is often missing, and the website’s calculations have been riddled with errors and corrections.
DOGE’s mandate as a whole is set to continue to July 4, 2026. However, many of the top figures in DOGE are tied to Musk and have not said whether they would want to stay on after the departure of the billionaire, who has been the ideological force behind the government overhaul.
There has been growing unease across the US over Musk’s blunt approach to mass layoffs from the government workforce. Nearly 200,000 employees have been fired, earmarked for termination or have accepted buyouts.
Republican lawmakers have faced the wrath of angry voters at unruly town halls, while many of DOGE’s efforts have become the subject of lawsuits.
Tesla dealerships have been vandalized in the US and abroad, and a nationwide protest against DOGE and Trump’s agenda is planned for this Saturday.


Climate protesters demand to be heard as they march on COP30 with costumes and drums

Climate protesters demand to be heard as they march on COP30 with costumes and drums
Updated 13 min 57 sec ago

Climate protesters demand to be heard as they march on COP30 with costumes and drums

Climate protesters demand to be heard as they march on COP30 with costumes and drums
  • Protesters earlier this week twice disrupted the talks by surrounding the venue, including an incident Tuesday where two security guards suffered minor injuries

BELEM, Brazil: Some wore black dresses to signify a funeral for fossil fuels. Hundreds wore red shirts, symbolizing the blood of colleagues fighting to protect the environment. And others chanted, waved huge flags or held up signs Saturday in what’s traditionally the biggest day of protest at the halfway point of annual United Nations climate talks.
Organizers with booming sound systems on trucks with raised platforms directed protesters from a wide range of environmental and social movements. Marisol Garcia, a Kichwa woman from Peru marching at the head of one group, said protesters are there to put pressure on world leaders to make “more humanized decisions.”
The demonstrators walked about 4 kilometers (about 2.5 miles) on a route that took them near the main venue for the talks, known as COP30. Protesters earlier this week twice disrupted the talks by surrounding the venue, including an incident Tuesday where two security guards suffered minor injuries.
A full day of sessions was planned at the venue, including talks on how to move forward with $300 billion a year in annual climate financial aid that rich countries agreed last year to give to poor nations to help wean themselves off fossil fuels, adapt to a nastier, warmer world and compensate for extreme weather damage.
Many of the protesters reveled in the freedom to demonstrate more openly than at recent climate talks held in more authoritarian countries, including Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. Thousands of people joined in a procession that sprawled across most of the march’s route.

Youth leader Ana Heloisa Alves, 27, said it was the biggest climate march she has been part of. “This is incredible,” she said. “You can’t ignore all these people.”
Alves was at the march to fight for the Tapajos River, which the Brazilian government wants to develop commercially. “The river is for the people,” her group’s signs read.
Pablo Neri, coordinator in the Brazilian state of Para for the Movimento dos Trabajadores Rurais Sem Terra, an organization for rural workers, said organizers of the talks should involve more people to reflect a climate movement that is shifting toward popular participation.
The United States, where President Donald Trump has ridiculed climate change as a scam and withdrawn from the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement that sought to limit Earth’s warming, is skipping the talks.
Demonstrator Flavio Pinto, of Para state, took aim at the US Wearing a brown suit and an oversized American flag top hat, he shifted his weight back and forth on stilts and fanned himself with fake hundred-dollar bills with Trump’s face on them. “Imperialism produces wars and environmental crises,” his sign read.
Vitoria Balbina, a regional coordinator for the Interstate Movement of Coconut Breakers of Babaçu, marched with a group of mostly women wearing domed hats made with fronds of the Babaçu palm. They were calling for more access to the trees on private property that provide not only their livelihoods but also a deep cultural significance. She said marching is not only about fighting and resistance on a climate and environment front, but also about “a way of life.”
The marchers formed a sea of red, white and green flags as they progressed up a hill. A crowd of onlookers gathered outside a corner supermarket to watch them approach, leaning over a railing and taking cellphone photos. “Beautiful,” said a man passing by, carrying grocery bags.
The climate talks are scheduled to run through Friday. Analysts and some participants have said they don’t expect any major new agreements to emerge from the talks, but are hoping for progress on some past promises, including money to help poor countries adapt to climate change.