Roving Periscope: Tasked with sacking 2 mn, Musk makes DOGE his bedroom!
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Taking his dedication to work, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and X, to new heights—by starting living right in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in Washington DC, according to the media reports.
Tasked by his close ally US President Donald Trump to clean up various government departments by sacking some two million employees and sympathizers of the Democrats—part of the Deep State—he has made the DOGE his new bedroom. This move is part of his efforts to exert greater control over the federal government, and it’s not the first time Musk has made headlines for his extreme work ethic, the reports said.
He has been staying at DOGE’s headquarters in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, a stone’s throw away from the White House.
He was reportedly invited to spend the night in the White House’s Lincoln Bedroom but chose to stay at the DOGE headquarters instead, to avoid a more formal relationship with President Trump’s team, after Chief of Staff Susie Wiles denied him office space in the West Wing, according to Daily Mail.
Musk’s commitment to hardcore work habits is well-known. In the early days of Tesla, he famously slept on the factory floor during busy periods, claiming it allowed employees to see their leader’s dedication firsthand.
He reiterated this sentiment in a 2022 interview with Ron Baron, saying, “This is important because if the team thinks their leader is off somewhere having a good time, drinking Mai Tais on a tropical island… they knew I was there, and that made a huge difference.”
This work culture is now being carried to the DOGE, which Musk leads to reducing government spending and streamlining operations. The department has already made significant cuts, saving taxpayers around USD 1 billion per day by halting unnecessary hiring and cutting spending on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
Musk’s team has also started eliminating websites and programs related to DEI, with the US Office of Personnel Management’s Chief Diversity Officers Executive Council website being taken down.
The DOGE, under Musk’s guidance, is prioritizing cost-cutting measures, with a notable focus even on the production of pennies, as the expense of a penny’s manufacturing now surpasses its face value, resulting in an estimated loss of USD 179 million to taxpayers in 2023. The DOGE is now exploring alternatives to reduce or potentially discontinue penny production, a move that could yield substantial savings for taxpayers.
However, Musk’s leadership style has raised concerns about allegedly toxic workplace culture. In 2018, he claimed that he was “sleeping on the factory floor” of Tesla because he didn’t have “time to go home and shower.”
He has also directed workers to do the same, with some employees reportedly sleeping on the manufacturing line to ensure new EV model rollouts.
