Trump Cabinet Regains Power as Musk Backs Away from Government Efficiency Task

Elon Musk’s diminished role in DOGE opens up the way for top agency officials to reclaim control over staffing, budgets, and federal reform strategy

Members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet are gearing up to regain their grip on federal agencies as Elon Musk prepares to step back from his involvement in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a contentious agency he has headed since Trump became president.

The billionaire businessman confirmed he will scale back his time investment in government work to attend to his struggling company, Tesla. Musk’s expected departure is a turning point in the Trump administration’s internal power dynamics, with Cabinet secretaries now set to take charge of decisions over staffing and budget reductions — fields previously controlled by DOGE.

DOGE, created by executive order on Trump’s first day in office, has been a flashpoint for contention, driving Draconian cost-cutting strategies throughout federal agencies. Musk’s initiatives, while hailed as heroic by some budget hawks, have created stress within the administration, with senior officials such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy openly resisting DOGE’s impact.

With Musk taking a step back, the engineers and staff that he put in place — most from his private companies such as SpaceX and X — will be under tighter scrutiny. Agency leaders now get to exercise the final say on which productivity proposals go ahead, lessening the need for Musk’s approval.

In spite of the change, the White House says DOGE’s mission is still the same. “It’s basically on cruise control,” said spokesperson Harrison Fields. “DOGE is running smoothly and carrying out the agenda of the president.”

Analysts say the changes Musk ushered in are set to persist. “There’s a train that’s left the station,” said Nick Bednar, a professor of law who monitors federal staffing moves. “It’s hard to stop.”

With Musk shuffling his priorities to the private sector, rumblings have increased about an expected successor. Interim administrator Amy Gleason is likely to emerge into a higher-profile role of leadership, albeit with vagueness on the future of DOGE being still limited.

Backers think Musk’s diminished role might even make the agency more effective by attracting less political heat. “With Musk stepping back, DOGE might function better,” stated Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste.

In the Musk post-era, Trump’s Cabinet will have more of a leadership role in defining the next course of federal government reorganization — one with diminished disruption, yet still deeply invested in the spirit of cost-reduction that Musk instilled.