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Musk to stay on and complete mission, White House says

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Reports had said he would depart 'soon'

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Musk's 130-day mandate expires late May

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Protests against DOGE, Trump planned for Saturday

(Recasts with White House statement on Musk)

By Nandita Bose and Akash Sriram

WASHINGTON, April 2 (Reuters) - The White House said on

Wednesday that tech billionaire Elon Musk will stay on to

complete his mission to slash government spending and downsize

the federal workforce, dismissing media reports that he will

leave the role soon.

Politico and ABC reported that U.S. President Donald

Trump had told members of his Cabinet that Musk will soon depart

and return to the private sector, although the reports did not

make clear if that would mean Musk leaving before his 130-day

mandate as a special government employee is set to expire around

late May.

Trump has tasked the Tesla and SpaceX CEO with

leading efforts through the Department of Government Efficiency

to cut government funding and reshape the federal bureaucracy.

"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," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

Musk and DOGE did not immediately respond to requests for

comment on the reports.

On Tuesday, Musk and Trump suffered a setback as a

liberal judge in Wisconsin won election to the state Supreme

Court, easily defeating a conservative judge whose campaign had

been heavily bankrolled by Musk and groups tied to him.

The vote had been seen as an early referendum on Trump's

presidency and Musk's campaign to remake the U.S. civil service.

Shares of some government contracting companies rose

following the reports of Musk's possible impending return to the

private sector. Shares of Musk's Tesla, which had been down more

than 6% in early trading after a sharper-than-expected fall in

first-quarter deliveries, reversed course and were up about 5%

on Wednesday afternoon.

Musk told Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier" last

week that he was confident he would finish most of his stated

aim of cutting $1 trillion in federal spending by the end of his

130 days.

But in a March 10 interview with Fox Business Network's

"Kudlow," when he was asked by host Larry Kudlow, "You going to

go another year?" Musk replied, "Yeah, I think so."

According to the DOGE website, the only official window into

its operations, DOGE estimates it has saved U.S. taxpayers $140

billion as of April 2 through a series of actions including

workforce reductions, asset sales, and contract cancellations,

still far short of Musk's $1 trillion goal.

But evidence for the stated savings is often missing, and

the website's calculations have been riddled with errors and

corrections.

DOGE's mandate as a whole is set to continue to July 4,

2026. However, many of the top figures in DOGE are tied to Musk

and have not said whether they would want to stay on after the

departure of the billionaire, who has been the ideological force

behind the government overhaul.

There has been growing unease across the U.S. over Musk's

blunt approach to mass layoffs from the government workforce.

Nearly 200,000 employees have been fired, earmarked for

termination or have accepted buyouts.

Republican lawmakers have faced the wrath of angry

voters at unruly town halls, while many of DOGE's efforts have

become the subject of lawsuits.

Tesla dealerships have been vandalized in the U.S. and

abroad, and a nationwide protest against DOGE and Trump's agenda

is planned for this Saturday.