Musk compares leaving DOGE to Buddhism without Buddha

Tesla CEO Elon Musk expressed confidence Wednesday that his efforts to slash the federal budget and workforce will carry on even after he leaves the White House.

“Is Buddha needed for Buddhism?” Musk quipped during a Wednesday briefing at the White House when asked who will fill his void when he leaves the administration.

Speaking to a small group of reporters, Musk said he plans to continue working for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) one or two days each week as he pivots back to his business empire.

The billionaire tech entrepreneur has faced pressure from Tesla board members to return to the helm of his electric vehicle (EV) company after months in D.C. leading DOGE. Musk told Tesla shareholders after a stunning dip in earnings that he would soon spend more of his time focused on the company.

Musk said Wednesday it’s “at the discretion of the president” if he will fully end his work at the end of the year. His status as a special government employee is also set to expire May 30, though it remains unclear if that will limit Musk's involvement beyond his own intentions.

“I’m willing to contribute on average, one to two days a week, which, you know, probably means coming to D.C every other week for three days, type of thing. As indefinitely, as long as the president wants me to do it,” Musk said.

He also suggested that he would return to the White House for special situations, explaining it was the "natural course of events" to wind down his government service after three "intense" months.

"Obviously, if the president or the Cabinet has an emergency that they want me to respond to then, I’ll do that. But otherwise, it’s just, I think it’s pretty manageable with one to two days on average. My guess is I’ll be in D.C. probably every other week,” Musk said.

“Everybody’s not leaving,” he said about the DOGE team of fewer than 100 staffers. “No, some will stay on, some will not. So, it’s up to them. This is basically a volunteer organization.”

“DOGE is kind of a way of life … we make converts all the time,” Musk said.

Musk has been a constant presence by Trump's side since the night of the president's stunning reelection. The tech billionaire, who dumped millions of dollars into pro-Trump super PACs and campaigned for Trump in key swing states, was often seen at Mar-a-Lago during the transition.

While Musk has reportedly clashed with several Trump Cabinet officials — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — the president stood by Musk throughout his controversial stint leading DOGE.

Musk has joined Trump’s Cabinet meetings since the start of the administration and at the meeting on Wednesday, the president invited Musk to stay on his team as long as he wants.

“You have been treated unfairly, but the vast majority of people in this country really respect and appreciate you,” Trump said about Musk.

Even as Musk prepares to wind down his time in D.C., he plans to stay close by.

“I’m keeping my micro-office,” Musk said, noting it’s on the top floor of the White House and “has a view of nothing.”

“I like my comically tiny office upstairs. But I also have the biggest monitor,” he said. “I have to admit, I occasionally play a video game.”

The Tesla CEO compared DOGE to Buddhism other times throughout the conversation, and he insisted his team was no different in ideology from President Clinton’s administration in its approach to waste in the federal government.

“If you took the transcript of the Clinton-Gore speeches and I said, ‘who said it? DOGE or Clinton-Gore?’ You’d have a hard time. They sound identical to what we’re saying,” he said. “We’re basically democrats from the 90s that got teleported to 2025.”

Democratic lawmakers, however, have blasted Musk for attempting to cut spending outside the Constitutionally-established appropriations process, driving thousands of federal employees out of their jobs and making misleading claims about the scale and type of programs targeted by the panel.

DOGE has been able to find about $150 billion to $160 billion in cuts to the federal government, Musk claimed. The billionaire said in January that the “best-case outcome” would be to make $2 trillion in cuts to federal spending.

When asked if he thinks saving $1 trillion would be possible, he didn’t shut down the idea.

“I think it’s possible to do that but it’s a longer road to go,” he said.

“How much pain is the Cabinet and Congress willing to take? It could be done but it requires dealing with a lot of complaints,” he added.

Musk said that he also expects the work of cutting waste from the federal government to continue throughout Trump’s four-year term.

“I guess,” he responded when asked if he will retain his title as White House adviser. “My title is chief nothing officer. Literally, there is nothing on my card. It just says my name.”