Musk Declares Total Focus as DOGE Duties Take Backseat
Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under President Donald Trump, announced Saturday that he is “back to spending 24/7 at work”, citing escalating technical and operational crises across several of his companies—X, Tesla, and xAI—as well as preparations for a major SpaceX Starship launch.
In a post on X, Musk said he is now sleeping in conference, server, and factory rooms again, reprising the extreme work schedule he’s known for when his companies face high-stakes moments.
“I must be super focused on X/xAI and Tesla (plus Starship launch next week), as we have critical technologies rolling out,” he wrote.
X Struggles After Data Center Fire
The statement comes on the heels of serious service disruptions on X, formerly Twitter, after a battery fire at a Hillsboro, Oregon data center operated by Digital Realty, where X leases server space.
What happened:
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A battery pack fire broke out Thursday morning.
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Hillsboro Fire & Rescue evacuated the site, no injuries reported.
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DownDetector reported a sharp spike in X outages following the incident.
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Failover systems meant to keep the platform running failed, Musk confirmed.
“The failover redundancy should have worked, but did not,” Musk admitted—an unusual public acknowledgment of operational failure from the tech titan.
Tesla Under Siege as Protesters Target Musk
While X suffers technical woes, Tesla has been targeted by violent protests over Musk’s federal appointment as DOGE chief. Critics accuse the billionaire of pushing a “techno-authoritarian” agenda in his government role—rationalizing and streamlining federal bureaucracy with AI and automation, angering labor unions and progressive groups alike.
Musk Pulls Back from Politics After Election Push
Musk, once a quiet political force, has now confirmed that he will be stepping back from making political donations, following his instrumental behind-the-scenes efforts that helped Trump secure victory in 2024.
His legal appointment as a Special Government Employee (SGE) limited the time he could spend on DOGE operations, and he now says that “time constraints” have forced him to scale back.
Bright Spot: SpaceX Rises Above the Chaos
Amid the turmoil, SpaceX continues to shine. The company has had multiple successful launches this month and is preparing for a high-profile Starship launch Tuesday from Starbase, Texas, the newly incorporated city built around Musk’s space operations.
The Starship launch is a centerpiece of Musk’s broader goal to revolutionize space transportation—and serves as a needed win in a week dominated by fire, failure, and fraying federal relations.
The Bottom Line
Musk is once again at a breaking point—juggling national reform, private sector upheaval, and a personal work ethic that borders on the superhuman. As X stumbles, Tesla protests intensify, and federal scrutiny deepens, Musk’s declaration of “super focus” signals not just a return to his roots, but an all-out fight to hold his empire together.
The question isn’t whether Elon Musk will keep going. The question is: how long can even he survive at this speed?
