Welcome back to the Elon Musk Podcast, the world's authority on Tesla, SpaceX, X Neurolink, and all things Elon. I'm your host, Will Walden. Thanks to our amazing community members like you, we've reached the top 15 of Spotify's video podcast, the top 10 audio podcast on both Apple and Spotify for the tech category. So you all make this possible. If you want to support us more, check out our Patreon. That's patreon.com/stage 0 news, so we can keep this free and
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Thank you so much. Elon Musk is stepping back from official government work, but the agency he built, DOGE, or the Department of Government Efficiency, is gaining more power. Could this quiet takeover of federal systems continue long after he's gone? Now this is how DOGE embedded itself in nearly every major US agency. What is doing to federal jobs and services and why Elon Musk is leaving? And it doesn't actually change the impact it's having at all.
Doge didn't slow down, it's just stopping making headlines now. DOGE was created under Trump with one goal, eliminate waste. But in just four months it did much more than that. It placed Musk aligned staff to the positions of actual authority, people with badges, security clearance, and also control of sensitive systems. Doge staff. They don't operate like regular employees somewhere on short contracts. Others are placed permanently.
They rotate access through multiple agencies, and they hold multiple titles. That flexibility allows them to move fast and bypass normal procedures now. Musk's absence raises a critical question, though. Who's actually accountable now? Some cabinet secretaries have tried to limit Doge's influence. But without Musk drawing attention, DOGE can act more freely and with less public resistance. The disruption is already clear. In Trump's first 100 days, over 120,000 federal workers were
laid off or targeted. Agencies scrambled to reorganize. Some workers took buyouts. Others were relocated or fired. Entire departments were thrown into confusion. And DOGE isn't just about cutting staff, though. It's changing how the government handles fraud, benefits and public data. A shift effects millions of people who rely on these services to function reliably. Its influence is especially visible at the Social Security Administration.
At least 11 DOGE staffers now work there, some with direct ties to Elon Musk, running fraud audits, managing software updates and triggering lawsuits over data access. Inside these agencies, career staff describe tension and isolation. DOGE workers shut their doors, avoid communication. Sometimes they don't share any plans until they're already underway. The secrecy is deepened. Internal divides now. Agencies have now submitted their plans for Phase 2 of DOGE.
More layoffs, more reorganizations and broader access to internal systems. The administration wants the Supreme Court to approve those firings by late 2025. Despite that, some officials admit DOGE has uncovered data that helps prevent fraud. The Government Accountability Office, or the GAO acknowledge gains in identifying improper payments. But those benefits come with serious trade-offs, especially when transparency is missing.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk has reduced his own role, saying he'll spend one to two days a week on government work. His allies say DOGE can keep operating just fine. They call him the booster rocket. His part is done, and now the mission continues. Now, Democrats built early opposition around Musk personally. He plastered his face on posters and called him President Musk. But now they're shifting focus to Doge itself, arguing his decisions are causing lasting
damage that needs to be fixed. Now. Musk may no longer be in the building, but the people that he installed, the systems that he changed, and the chaos he set in motion are still very active. And now Doge isn't going anywhere. I want to say thank you so much for tuning into the show today. I really do appreciate your
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