Musk Leaves DOGE (Mostly)
Elon Musk has decided to heed the call.
He’s decided to step back from his role in the U.S. government’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and go and save Tesla.
Did the whole debacle need to be this embarrassing? What is going on?
The Situation
Appointed by President Trump in early 2025, Musk took on the ambitious task of trimming federal spending by $2 trillion. However, after 100 days, the reported savings stand at just $160 billion (yeah, sure, it’s that much).
Musk’s tenure was marked by significant layoffs and agency restructurings, leading to public protests and declining approval ratings.
After seeing sales drop, Tesla reportedly looked for a replacement. Which of course was false. I believe you “Robyn”.
Don’t worry in any case. Musk is coming back!
Musk’s return
In a recent cabinet meeting, Musk donned two hats — a red “Gulf of America” cap atop a black DOGE cap and quipped
“They say I wear a lot of hats, and as you can see, it’s true. Even my hat has a hat”
Despite stepping back, Musk emphasized that DOGE’s mission to reduce government waste would continue, expressing confidence in the team’s ability to carry on the work.
And you know what problem I have. Amongst all of this the biggest criticism I have is the awful humor in a situation that demands anything but.
Let’s Talk About the Real Problem
Honestly, the worst part of this isn’t the failure to achieve government savings, or even the chaos left behind. It’s the jokes.
Musk has proven Elon Musk is not funny. The man’s sense of humor is the software engineering equivalent of a team naming their service “Microservice B” and wondering why nobody can find it.
Musk’s attempts at humor make his critics look charitable. He’s the guy who brings memes to a financial crisis and leaves spreadsheets unread.
I mean:
When you pair governmental efficiency with the comedy stylings of a man who once named his kid after an encryption cipher, you get a laughable circus and not in the good way. It’s cringe cosplay for fiscal policy.
But it really isn’t. Musk is hiding something. It’s the classic software developer undeserved feeling of superiority.
It isn’t right
Elon isn’t incompetent. He’s just got that classic software developer flaw: the overinflated belief that intelligence in one area means you’re a genius in all areas.
It’s that same energy from the guy on your team who rewrites the build system during a production incident, or who insists everyone uses Vim, even if they don’t know how to quit Vim.
It’s entitlement disguised as “vision.” And it’s not just wrong it’s dangerous. Software developers can be arrogant and it converts them into “jerks” and this just isn’t in the interest of anybody and a refusal to things seriously just isn’t helpful.
Remember those real Elon moments. The pedo guy tweet. The flamethrowers and chainsaws. It’s a real-world cringe and a display of arrogance that shouldn’t be greeted with positively.
The DOGE experience wasn’t a bug. It was a feature of everything broken in tech, the arrogance, the unchecked confidence, the prioritization of disruption over diligence, and the “jokes”.
When are we going to change this stuff?
Conclusion
So thanks, Elon. Thanks for the hats. The jokes. The circus.
We’ve learned that disruption without direction is just destruction in a fun hat.
When “only a smart person would find it funny” seems true, its because it’s not true at all. It’s a symptom of the problem, and we need to think about that before it’s too late (but it’s already too late).