Elon Musk's feelings are hurt so he's stepping away from doge - podcast episode cover

Elon Musk's feelings are hurt so he's stepping away from doge

Apr 22, 20259 min
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Elon Musk's feelings are hurt so he's stepping away from doge

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Welcome back to the Elon Musk Podcast. I'm thrilled to share some exciting news with you over the next two weeks. We're evolving. We'll be broadening our focus to cover all the tech Titans shaping our world. And with that, our show will become Stage 0. You'll still get the latest insights on Elon Musk, plus so much more, so stay tuned for our official relaunch at Stage 0 coming soon.

So for the past four or five years, I've been bringing you in depth, no nonsense insights from the world of Elon Musk. But I need your help to keep the show alive and growing. If you'd love what you hear, consider supporting Stage 0 on [email protected]/stage 0 News. By joining our Patreon community, you'll get exclusive content, early access to some episodes, and a chance to shape

future topics. Everyone has a voice, and your support goes directly into making this show absolutely better, and it helps me keep bringing you the cut that you enjoy every single day. If you're getting value from Stage 0 news, becoming a patron is the best way to make sure this journey keeps going. So let's make the next five years even bigger together. There's a link in the show notes

just for you. Elon Musk appears ready to walk away from his position in the federal government, according to a report from the Washington Post. And the reason he's giving is personal. He's tired of what he sees as sustained, politically motivated

attacks from the left. His planned exit would bring an end to a controversial and short lived chapter in government service where the billionaire entrepreneur tried to apply Silicon Valley style disruption to the bureaucracy of Washington. Now, Musk currently leads DOGE, a role he took on under special government employee status, and that designation is set to expire at the end of next month and sources familiar with his plans say he doesn't intend to

renew it. Musk reportedly believes that his departure won't slow down the work of DOGE, since key staff members have already positioned themselves across a number of federal agencies and continue to push forward the policies he introduced. But this potential exit comes amid clear signs that his influence in government is diminishing. Recently, the New York Times reported that tensions flared with the administration after Treasury Secretary Scott Bassett objected to Musk's appointment

of an acting IRS commissioner. Bassett accused Musk of bypassing him to install his preferred candidate, who was later removed in. This clash has been widely interpreted as a signal that Musk is losing support inside the federal government. Now, other government officials have voiced similar frustrations and concerns. Musk's cost cutting efforts, often implemented without collaboration, have created confusion and at times,

resentment. One of his more controversial moves was a directive issued in February that required all federal employees under Doge's reach to submit a weekly e-mail listing 5 completed tasks. Now, Musk said failure to comply would be treated as a resignation. He does this with all of his companies. If he comes into the company, if he buys you, he usually sends out an e-mail that asks you what you've done over the past week and if you don't reply, just gets rid of you.

Now, that order was quickly challenged. Just two days later, the Office of Personnel Management issued guidance making it clear that these emails were optional, not mandatory. They stated that employees couldn't be forced out for not participating, and internal emails revealed that the office didn't plan to analyze or use the data being collected anyway. And since then, enforcement of the policy has become inconsistent. Some agencies dropped their requirement entirely.

Others kept it but made no effort to track or enforce participation. Employees in some departments reportedly began treating the exercise as a joke, copying the same list each week or submitting sarcastic responses to meet the letter of the rule without honoring its intent. Now outside Washington, pressure is growing for Musk to return his full attention to Tesla, where analysts say his

leadership is urgently needed. Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Sacred Securities, has described Tesla as being in a code red state, and he blamed Musk's government involvement as a key distraction. In a note to investors, he urged Musk to step back from DOGE immediately and resume full time leadership at Tesla. Tesla is Musk and Musk is Tesla and anyone that thinks the brand damage Musk is inflicted is not a real thing. Spend some time speaking to car buyers in the US, Europe and Asia.

You will think differently about those discussions now. I was also warned that Tesla's political associations could result in a 15 to 20% long term drop in consumer demand. You describe Tesla as having become a political symbol closely tied to the Trump administration and the DOGE program, which he argues is turning off potential buyers in key markets worldwide. Now for civil servants, Musk's

short tenure has been jarring. While he did push for some modernization efforts and cost reforms, the abrupt style in which policies were introduced and then rolled back left many employees confused and concerned. Several government workers described the workplace, where expectations change frequently and where directives from Musk clashed with federal norms and federal procedures. Even those who supported Elon Musk's gold acknowledge that his tactics often did more harm than good.

The demand for weekly task emails, for instance, may have been intended to boost accountability but instead create a distrust and reset min among staff. Many employees felt the rule wasn't about transparency but about control, and when it was overturned, it further weakened confidence in his leadership. Now the decision for Elon to move on also matters for government oversight and public

trust. And influential figures like Musk take on powerful roles without clear lines of accountability or a clear plan that raises concerns about transparency and proper governance. His potential departure shows that it's difficult importing private sector CE, OS and billionaire bad boys like Elon to the public sector. The strategies, they cause

disruption, they cause harm. And right now, neither Musk nor the White House have made an official statement regarding his future with Doge, though, I think Elon is running scared. He sees Tesla going down and he realizes that it's because of him and what he's done. He's blaming it on the left. People are attacking him not because of who he is, but because the actions that he's taken with Doge and other things. So he has to take accountability

and stop blaming other people. And that's what I think is happening with Tesla. I think that's how people feel about Tesla. So right now, they think he's a bad guy. So they're not going to buy his cars. There's no way. There's no way they're going to buy a Tesla because Elon Musk is a bad guy. Very simple. If you have 3040 thousand $50,000 to spend on a car and you don't like the person that runs the car company, you're not going to buy that car. Just go someplace else.

There's cars that are similar. They don't have all the bells and whistles of Tesla. They're good. Buy a Rivian. Rivians are great. You can buy a Subaru, not as good, but it's a cool car. You can buy a Hyundai if you want to. It's up to you. It's up to your political beliefs and if you like the company's owners and CEOs. So what's clear right now is that Musk's time in government has been as unconventional as his corporate career. His likely exit will end a chapter defined by his bold

moves in the government. And it had unpredictable consequences. And he's expected to leave his federal post at Doge next month and not re sign with the government. His departure follows internal conflicts, his failed policies, and outside pressure from investors and friends and family to return to Tesla, SpaceX, Neurolink, all of his companies full time. Get out of the government. That's what they want. Hey, thank you so much for listening today. I really do appreciate your support.

If you could take a second and hit subscribe or the follow button on whatever podcast platform that you're listening on right now, I greatly appreciate it. It helps out the show tremendously and you'll never miss an episode. And each episode is about 10 minutes or less to get you caught up quickly. And please, if you want to support the show even more, go to patreon.com/stage Zero. And please take care of yourselves and each other, and I'll see you tomorrow.

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