Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, is expected to step down from his polarizing role in the Trump administration as his term as a special government employee as his 130-day cap on government service is looking to expire in late May.

During a statement, Trump said "He's got a big company to run... at some point, he's going to be going back," seemingly confirming the rumours while not explicitly. But the President also stated that he would have kept Musk as long as he could.

DOGE will continue to stand even if musk is not part of it

As a special government employee, Musk's tenure is capped at 130-day under federal law-which would expire in late May if counted from the day of inauguration. This contradicts the White House's earlier claims, stating that Musk is here to stay.

Political commentary news outlet Politico claims that the Trump Administration has secretly confirmed the news, revealing that Musk would indeed step down from his lead role in the weeks to come.

But Musk is calling the report fake news, and the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, on Wednesday said the Politico news story was "garbage."During the interview, Leavitt said

"Elon Musk and President Trump have both publicly stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete."

But one thing for sure is that DOGE will continue to stand even if Elon Musk is not part of the equation. Experts claim that DOGE is set to continue until 2016 until 2025 under Trump's executive order, with high-level executives elected by Musk to run the agencies throughout Trump's whole Presidential term.

The Elon Musk Rampage

Since joining Trump’s administration in January, Musk has led DOGE with an aggressive approach, likened to wielding a “chainsaw” through federal agencies.

DOGE has since triggered large scale civil service layoffs, resulting in massive layoffs—56,000 federal jobs cut and 75,000 voluntary buyouts—with plans for an additional 171,000 reductions. The initiative has also sought to fully eliminate entire agencies such as humanitarian focused USAID and Voice of America have faced dismantling.

While DOGE claims $140 billion in savings, but his policy hasn't gotten very well with the general public. According to a report by the Marquette Law School, only 41% of the US public approve of DOGE's work, while a measly 38% liked Elon Musk.

In a mid-March Quinnipiac poll found that over half the country believed Musk and DOGE were harming the U.S.

What Lies Ahead?

Even as Musk prepares to exit public service, DOGE is set to continue operations until 2026 under Trump’s executive order. High-level officials appointed by Musk are expected to remain in place, ensuring that his influence lingers beyond his tenure.

While some administration insiders believe Musk will transition into an informal advisory role, others argue that anyone expecting him to fully retreat from Trump’s orbit is “deluding themselves.” For now, Musk’s legacy in Washington remains as polarizing as the man himself.