Assuming Musk actually does ditch DOGE (this administration has not been big on following federal laws, after all), he’ll be leaving his new mess for an old one. Tesla is staring down a potential crisis, in no small part because of how badly Musk’s behavior has damaged the brand.

A National Park Service ranger conducts a walking tour in Shark Valley, part of the Everglades National Park, on April 17, 2025. Everglades National Park and all other national parks are now being run by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Governmental Efficiency.

If Elon Musk's effort to remake the federal government was ever really about "waste, fraud, and abuse," those DOGE days are over. His quasi-agency has made huge and unprecedented changes to what the federal government does.