What is Doge and why is Musk stepping back?
Tesla boss Elon Musk has pledged to "significantly" cut back his role in Doge, the body tasked with reducing US government spending and cutting jobs.
The Department of Government Efficiency has faced legal challenges over the scope of its work, and Musk and his team have been been criticised for a lack of transparency.
However, polling suggests its cost-cutting agenda has widespread .
What is Doge?
Despite its full name, Doge is not an official government department, which can only be established by an act of Congress.
Instead the advisory body was created by an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump.
Part of Doge's mission, according to the order, relates to IT upgrades aimed at boosting efficiency. It must finish its work by July 2026.
Many Doge staff appear to be young people with tech backgrounds and limited or no government experience.
Is Elon Musk a government employee?
Yes. Musk initially said he would perform his role as an outside volunteer but the White House later confirmed he would operate as an unpaid special government employee.
That designation covers those working for the government for no more than 130 days in a year.
ers argued that the body's outsider status - and somewhat vague mandate - would increase its effectiveness.
"They're a little more untethered to the bureaucracy itself and to the systems that slow processes down around here," Republican Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota told the BBC.
"I think the lack of parameters is part of what will make them effective."
In an unexpected appearance at the White House in February, Musk denied leading a "hostile takeover" of the US government, and defended his approach.
"The people voted for major government reform and that's what the people are going to get," he said. "That's what democracy is all about."
He also made a number of exaggerated and uned claims during the event.
What has Elon Musk said about his commitment to Doge?
Musk said his "time allocation to Doge" would "drop significantly" from May to one to two days per week, after accusations he had taken his focus off Tesla.
His political involvement has sparked global protests and boycotts against the company's cars.
In April, the firm said sales had fallen to their lowest level in three years and warned investors that "changing political sentiment" could continue to hurt demand.
Musk was already due to reach his 130-day limit on government work in late May, but it is not clear whether he will step down completely.
He pledged to stay on "as long as the president would like me to do so and as long as it's useful".
Getty ImagesWhat has Doge done and how much money has it saved?
Musk said Doge's mission was to end the "tyranny of the bureaucracy", save taxpayers' money and reduce US national debt, which stands at $36tn (£28.9tn).
The organisation's activities have included shuttering government agencies, defunding programmes and mass layoffs.
- Trump insists Doge representatives have identified "fraud and abuse" inside various departments but has not provided evidence to his claim
- More than two million government employees have been offered a "buyout" deal to leave but some fired staff have been rehired
- While tackling so-called "woke" policies, Musk said his team had "saved taxpayers over $1bn in crazy DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] contracts"
- The vast majority of programmes run by USAID, America's main foreign aid organisation, have been cut
Initially Musk said he hoped to save as much as $2tn a year, but later halved this pledge. On 10 April he talked about making savings of $150bn from "cutting fraud and waste" by the end of the 2025/2026 financial year.
Doge publishes a running total of estimated savings on its website - which stood at $160bn on 20 April.
However, BBC analysis on 23 April found that only $61.5bn of that amount was itemised, and evidence of how the savings were achieved was available for just $32.5bn.
What do Americans think about Doge?
Polling in February by the BBC's US partner CBS News suggested that Doge had popular appeal.
It indicated that a majority of Americans - especially Republican voters - backed its work.
David Ditch, a senior analyst at the Economic Policy Innovation Center, a conservative think tank, insists Doge's work is necessary:
"They're shining a very bright spotlight on various parts of the federal government and they're asking - whether it's the American public, whether it's moderate of the Republican caucus - is this how you want America's tax dollars to be used">Republicans have won control of both chambers of Congress, yielding Trump limited congressional oversight for at least 2 years.
