So is Elon really out, as the White House is claiming to beltway news outlets? Don’t bet on it.
First of all, he’s almost certainly not leaving DOGE.
Second of all, it would hardly matter if he did. He’ll keep running DOGE even if he nominally steps aside. Remember that at least in terms of what his minions are telling federal judges he doesn’t even run it now. The entire entity is run by his deputies and powered by the fear of his money and his power. He couldn’t stop running it without dismantling it. And of course neither is going to happen.
Thirdly, Elon Musk is now in the position of every dictator whose already killed too many people. They have to hold on to power because giving it up is too dangerous. Will the Justice Department stop wielding national police power to defend Tesla’s market cap? Unlikely. And without Elon’s presence and the fear he inspires, more facts about the crimes and the consequences of his wilding spree will dribble out. DOGE has always run on fear and Musk inspires the fear. Will people decide that they can go back to maybe buying a Tesla? I doubt it, because of items one and two and item three as well.
Fourthly and lastly, there’s far too much damage and blood on the ground for Elon to step aside. Would anyone have cared if bin Laden had decided to “step back” in November 2001 and focus on his other terror affiliates? Unlikely. What had happened had happened. There was no going back. This is all the more the case now because the details of what has already happened, the consequences and pain for ordinary Americans. The laws broken, the money squandered, the national assets plundered are only now beginning to become clear. That won’t stop. And as we saw in Wisconsin, Musk cannot help but put himself front and center even when it’s objectively crazy to do so. That’s who he is and no one ceases to be who they are.
As Musk himself said with characteristic grandiosity: “This is a revolution.” And so it is. You don’t step back from them. They drive to their conclusion or they fail. They may sometimes break down into stalemate. But no one steps back. That’s not how it works. They can’t even if they try. Not just Musk but everyone who enabled him, justified him — they all remain on the line for it. DOGE was always about a blitzkrieg, creating facts on the ground before people could find out fully what was happening, before even the full impacts were felt, before people entered the buildings after the firing squads had moved on. We’re moving into the finding out stage so of course he wants to step back. But it’s all beyond job titles. Too much business is unfinished.