Elon Musk sat for a wide-ranging interview with The Economist. He admitted something rare. “I got a little too involved in politics,” he said. Then came the sharper confession. He “got carried away, frankly.”
The subject? His leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency. Better known as DOGE. The initiative launched with fanfare in late 2024. President Trump tapped Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to slash federal spending by $2 trillion. They promised a self-deleting agency. Its final act? To disappear on July 4, 2026.
The Promise Versus the Reality
It didn’t quite work out that way. DOGE officially shut down on schedule. Yet its effects linger across Washington. And Musk’s businesses? They show cracks. SpaceX saw its Starship test scrub last week after multiple engine failures. Tesla sales continue to slide in Europe. Investors grow wary.
But first. The origins. Days after the 2024 election, Musk, Ramaswamy, Howard Lutnick and others met at Mar-a-Lago. Trump announced the pair as DOGE leaders on November 12. He compared the effort to the Manhattan Project. Musk told Tucker Carlson the government had too many agencies. “99 is more than enough,” he said. Three days later, the duo penned an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal.
Ramaswamy stepped away almost immediately after Trump’s January 2025 inauguration. He eyed a run for Ohio governor. Musk pressed on alone. As a special government employee, he gained access. His team reviewed contracts. They paused foreign aid. They targeted what they called waste.
Results came fast. Tens of thousands of federal workers lost jobs. The Social Security Administration saw offices hollowed out. The New York Times detailed long lines and delayed services. Scientific research suffered. Federal grants froze. A research dean described turning his work into “crisis management” in The Conversation.
Foreign aid cuts hit hardest. USAID programs shuttered. Funding shifted to the State Department in theory. On the ground, clinics closed. Drug supplies stopped. ProPublica and others documented cases. A 23-year-old woman died in childbirth in Liberia. Ambulance fuel had run out. Infants in Sierra Leone lost access to HIV drugs. Malaria deaths rose in Zimbabwe. Model estimates from Boston University and The Lancet project hundreds of thousands of excess deaths. Some analyses reach into the millions over time.
Musk rejects this. In the recent Economist interview he declared, “Zero people died because of DOGE. Zero.” He called USAID a “political organization.” Claims of shutdowns were “false,” he said. Private foundations like the Gates Foundation or MacKenzie Scott’s should have stepped in. “If they didn’t, I would say they’re equally responsible.”
Critics pushed back immediately. Nicholas Kristof named specific victims in his columns. Public health experts cited data lags yet clear mortality spikes. X erupted with debates. One post from @cb_doge shared Musk’s full clip. Replies mixed defense with outrage. “Musk’s response to the deaths caused by DOGE cuts makes literally no sense,” wrote one user. Another cited Lancet projections of over 14 million excess deaths by 2030 under sustained cuts.
Data leaks compounded problems. Sensitive information appeared online. Protests followed. Tesla showrooms faced vandalism. Musk’s approval ratings tanked. A Gallup poll cited in Futurism suggested he ranks among America’s most disliked figures.
And Ramaswamy? He left DOGE early. Now running for governor in Ohio, he received millions from Musk. The New York Times reported the donations despite rumored tensions. The Washington Post noted DOGE’s remnants persist in agency practices even after shutdown. E&E News observed Silicon Valley disruptors had already moved on weeks before the July 4 expiration.
So what went wrong? Musk’s approach mirrored his companies. Move fast. Break things. Government doesn’t bend that way. Bureaucracy has rules. Congress has oversight. Courts intervene. DOGE operated as an advisory body without formal authority. Yet its recommendations carried weight in the early Trump White House.
Conflicts of interest surfaced too. Musk’s firms hold billions in federal contracts. SpaceX relies on NASA. Tesla benefited from EV incentives, though those faced review. Futurism highlighted how USAID cuts aligned with some of Musk’s public criticisms yet raised questions about personal stakes.
Now Musk signals retreat. “I got a lot of flack for this, obviously.” His empire shows strain. SpaceX stock hit lows after the latest Starship issues. Tesla faces boycotts tied to his politics. European sales dropped sharply per recent data.
Yet he shows little sign of full withdrawal. The Economist noted no relinquishing of his “geopolitical bully pulpit.” He defended past statements. Argued far-right European leaders face unfair characterization. The magazine’s accompanying leader called some of his views “plainly bigoted.”
He spoke of AI abundance. Money would become irrelevant. Governments should “issue people checks.” A vision far removed from the pain his cost cuts inflicted on real programs. PEPFAR, which saved 25 million lives since 2003, saw disruptions despite partial waivers.
Recent coverage captures the divide. The Independent ran with Musk’s “I got carried away” line. Washington Post reporters found DOGE’s influence embedded in ongoing efficiency reviews. Even as the formal body dissolved, its ethos lingers in budget talks.
Supporters see necessary disruption. Decades of bloat demanded action. Wasteful spending needed pruning. Musk forced conversations long avoided. Detractors point to human cost. Abrupt cuts ignored implementation realities. Vulnerable populations paid the price.
History offers parallels. Past efficiency drives rarely hit targets. They often generate backlash. DOGE stands out for its celebrity leadership and rapid execution. Also for its swift dissolution. Ramaswamy lasted months. Musk grew exhausted. The July 4 deadline arrived with little fanfare.
What remains? A government leaner in some areas. Damaged in others. Public trust eroded. Musk’s personal brand battered. His recent comments read like damage control. An attempt to reset before the next venture. But the flack he mentioned? It continues. On X, debates rage daily. Defenders praise zero tolerance for fraud. Critics list names of the deceased.
One thing feels clear. Musk entered Washington like a CEO fixing a broken division. He exits acknowledging overreach. Carried away indeed. The question now is whether anyone learned from it. Or if future administrations will try again with different faces and sharper tools.
His vision of AI-driven abundance clashes with the immediate suffering tied to his policies. Foundations didn’t fully replace lost aid. Systems take time to recover. Science funding gaps may slow innovation for years. Social Security backlogs persist.
And Musk? He eyes new frontiers. Mars. Neural interfaces. Yet the DOGE chapter lingers. A rare admission of error from a man who rarely concedes ground. “Zero people died.” The data and reporting tell a different story. One of disruption. One of unintended consequences. One that industry watchers and policymakers will study long after the agency self-deleted.
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