Musk Says DOGE Was "Somewhat Successful," But Wouldn't Do It Again After Swamp's Attack On Tesla
Elon Musk joined Katie Miller's podcast for a wide-ranging interview, opening with a question about his time at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and whether the effort was worth it.
Musk said DOGE's push to cut waste, fraud, and abuse from the federal government was "somewhat successful," but cautioned he wouldn't take on that role again given the backlash from what he described as the DC swamp.
Miller asked Musk:
"Would you do DOGE again knowing what you know now?"
Musk responded:
"I mean, the thing is, I think in terms of instead of doing DOGE, I would have basically built you know, worked on my companies essentially. So and not and the cars would they wouldn't have been burning the cars..."
Miller noted:
"You gave up a lot to DOGE."
Musk said:
"Yes."
He continued:
"They really want the money to keep flowing. Um, so if you stop it from flowing, there's like a very strong reaction to to stopping the money flowing."
The backlash Musk faced originated from left-wing NGOs and activist groups that targeted Tesla showrooms, progressive politicians openly rooting for the stock to crash, and a sustained pressure campaign by the broader Democratic Party machine, which, he argues, sought to damage the Tesla brand. Let's not forget that militant leftists firebombed Tesla vehicles at showrooms.
It really depends on how one measures success. Musk told Miller the cost-cutting effort was "somewhat successful," but noted that, given the response from Deep State-aligned activist groups that targeted Tesla, he wouldn't do it again.
"We were a little bit successful. We were somewhat successful. We stopped a lot of funding that really just made no sense, that was entirely wasteful," he said. Miller if he would go back to lead the organization again, he said: "No, I don't think so."
Absolutely surreal to interview one of the greatest minds of our time, a friend, and boss.
— Katie Miller (@KatieMiller) December 9, 2025
Thank you, @elonmusk 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸pic.twitter.com/vbYlZTTaBf
As of early December, DOGE claims on its website to have slashed $214 billion in estimated savings. However, this figure is far from the $2 trillion in savings Musk pitched during the presidential election.
Perhaps not measured in total dollar amount, some of the success came from dismantling corrupt USAID funding pipelines into NGOs and rooting out other fraud, waste, and abuse that funneled into the Democratic Party's machine; then maybe the true nature of DOGE's successes emerges. The lashing out by left-wing activist groups and progressive politicians against Tesla is exactly the response one would expect if you stopped their years of taxpayer looting sprees.
Let's revisit what we said very early in DOGE's noble efforts, noting that while Musk's foray into the DC swap to drain it to the degree pitched would not be attainable.
Here's the bigger play at hand, and why there is only token pushback to DOGE.
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 8, 2025
You cut enough spending - even if it's all grift and fraud - you eventually get a recession, guaranteed. That's all Congress is waiting for cause then they use the "emergency" to vote through a far…
What the DOGE effort revealed was that Democrats and their unhinged left-wing groups would pursue violence to stop Musk. This is the same political machine attacking Trump and 'America First'...