‘Whipping Boy’: Musk Says DOGE Fought Massive ‘Uphill Battle,’ Ended Up Getting Blamed For Everything Bad

Just before a test launch for SpaceX’s Starship on Tuesday night, Elon Musk said the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) became a “whipping boy” for Washington dysfunction.

Musk, who served as chief advisor to DOGE, told The Washington Post admitted he had underestimated the scale of “the federal bureaucracy situation,” calling it “much worse than I realized.” As the SpaceX founder retreats from Washington, he described the initiative as having become a convenient scapegoat for government dysfunction.

“DOGE is just becoming a whipping boy for everything,” Musk told the Post. “So, like, something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it.”

The end of Musk’s Beltway tenure follows significant public backlash that affected his business empire. Tesla faced vandalism at showrooms across the country, with the CEO lamenting that “people were burning Teslas” amid the political turmoil.

“Why would you do that? That’s really uncool,” he said.

Tesla’s stock suffered during Musk’s public-facing stint in government, though shares have begun recovering as he diverts more attention to his businesses.

Musk’s comments also coincide with his public criticism of President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda. In a separate CBS Sunday Morning interview, he expressed disappointment with the president’s “big, beautiful bill” — a massive tax and spending package that passed the House last week.