Stansbury weighs-in on Elon Musk stepping down

Elon Musk announced Wednesday that he’s stepping down from his role advising President Donald Trump, but a New Mexico congresswoman and the state’s Republican Party expect the Department of Government Efficiency to continue its work.

Musk played a high-profile role in launching the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a project to cut government spending and bureaucracy. The project oversaw thousands of layoffs, but Musk’s spending cut goals shrunk from $2 trillion to $150 billion, The Associated Press reported. DOGE’s aggressive cuts and access to agencies’ data also led to a flurry of lawsuits.

“I think that it is very likely that DOGE is going to continue as a formal entity across the federal government,” said Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M. “Certainly its impacts are going to be felt for years to come.”

Musk’s role as a special government employee was always meant to be temporary, although the Trump administration was vague about his end date. Stansbury said she thinks Musk is not going away even though his official advisory role may be over, pointing to his business ties to the federal government through companies such as Starlink.

Republican Party of New Mexico Chair Amy Barela is confident Musk’s team will continue his efforts, despite the tech mogul’s departure.

“Elon’s dedication to uncovering fraud and eliminating wasteful spending has been both commendable and transformative. His investigative insight and fearless approach to transparency brought significant clarity to areas long in need of reform,” Barela said in a statement.

Stansbury is ranking member of the Delivering on Government Efficiency House congressional subcommittee, which was created to aid DOGE’s efforts. Committee Chair Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., notified members that a DOGE hearing is scheduled for next week focused on nonprofit status, Stansbury said.

“The full scale attack on our democracy, our institutions, the Congressional separation of powers, the rule of law, the press, free speech, civil society, is continuing, and DOGE is continuing to be at the tip of the spear for the administration on it,” Stansbury said.