Elon Musk flip-flops on DOGE, says it has no power: ‘We are merely advisors’

• Elon Musk said at the Qatar Economic Forum Tuesday DOGE has no power to enforce its major cost cuts and serves merely as an advisor. On the subject of Musk’s originally-stated $2 trillion cost-cutting goal for DOGE, the world’s richest man placed the blame on people in the three branches of government who don’t want big cost savings.

Elon Musk said at the Qatar Economic Forum Tuesday that his cost-cutting venture, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has no power and instead is merely an advisor.

Asked about the possible conflict of interest arising from the Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s government influence and concurrent government contracts, the world’s richest man said although DOGE is making cost-cutting decisions, it doesn’t have the power to act on them.

“I am certainly an advisor. I don’t have formal power, and that’s it. The president can choose to accept my advice or not. And that’s how it goes,” he said.

Musk has previously made bold claims about DOGE and its reach. Initially, he sought to cut at least $2 trillion from the federal budget before revising it down to $1 trillion, and has previously confirmed DOGE is “broadly” present across all federal departments.

Musk claimed Tuesday DOGE had only limited power, and he emphasized the $170 billion DOGE has claimed to have cut thus far is good progress given the time it has operated. The advisory department is set to sunset on July 4, 2026.

“We’re not the dictators of the government. We are the advisors. And so we can advise, and the progress we’ve made thus far, I think, is incredible,” Musk said. “The DOGE team has done incredible work, but the magnitude of the savings is proportionate to the support we get from Congress and from the executive branch of the government in general.” 

Starting in May, Musk said he would mostly divert his attention back to his struggling EV maker Tesla, but said he would continue to spend “a day or two” per week on government matters as long as President Donald Trump wants him to. 

Despite his role as a close advisor of the president, Musk has often clashed with Trump officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

On the amended $2 trillion original DOGE cost-cutting goal, Musk was noncommittal, instead placing the blame on the other branches of government “that are, to some degree, opposed to that level of cost savings.” 

Still, he said so far, DOGE’s cost-cutting efforts have been going well.

“I don’t think any advisory group has done better in the history of advisory groups for the government,” he said.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com