Elon Musk’s prominent role in the Trump administration was in fresh jeopardy on Wednesday, after the billionaire’s unpopularity was seized upon by Democrats to clinch a crucial state supreme court race.
The president has told confidants that Musk’s position as head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), originally expected to run into 2026, could be terminated early, according to a report by Politico.
Shares in Musk’s Tesla, which had earlier reported a huge drop in deliveries, rose almost 4 per cent on the news. The billionaire has previously suggested that the bulk of his work at Doge, which has sent shockwaves through the US government and prompted protests from cabinet members, could be done by May. President Donald Trump on Monday predicted “at some point Elon’s going to want to go back to his company”.
“Elon Musk and President Trump have both *publicly* stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Over the past few weeks, the world’s wealthiest man poured more than $25mn into a judicial race in Wisconsin, arguing that the “future of civilisation” hinged on electing a conservative to the state’s highest court.
But on Tuesday evening, Musk’s preferred candidate, Brad Schimel, lost by 10 percentage points in a race that had morphed into a poll on his popularity.
Prominent Trump supporters had harsh words for the billionaire. Voters across the US are “extremely fired up about Musk” and the cuts made by Doge, said Blake Neff, a co-host of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk’s podcast. “I can see this, I can see this in places that aren’t even political, that people are all riled up about Elon Musk.”
Ever since he decided to bankroll Trump’s campaign with more than a quarter of a billion dollars last year, the Tesla boss and former Democrat voter has become the most feared political donor in the US, threatening to use his financial firepower in races of all sizes in order to cement Republican dominance nationwide.
Musk’s involvement in Wisconsin was not restricted to wiring funds. He revived a scheme used in swing states in last year’s presidential election and offered registered voters $100 to sign a petition, handing out $1mn cheques to some of the signatories in person.
State Democrats, who supported liberal judge Susan Crawford for the court seat, seized upon the spectacle to convince their base that a billionaire who had “probably never set foot in Wisconsin before” was trying to buy their votes in what was fast becoming the most expensive judicial race in American history.
They also pointed out that Musk’s interest in Wisconsin’s supreme court race became apparent shortly after Tesla sued the state in a row over the opening of direct dealerships.
“I never thought as a little girl growing up in Chippewa Falls that I’d be going up against the richest man in the world to fight for justice in our state,” went Crawford’s oft-repeated stump speech.
The message seems to have resonated with left-leaning voters. Conservatives, meanwhile, were less alarmed by Musk’s warnings that a liberal majority on the court would ultimately lead to a redrawing of Wisconsin’s congressional electoral map in Democrats’ favour and that the 2026 midterm elections would end up torpedoing the Trump agenda.
“I feel like this is one of those things that may not seem that it’s going to affect the entire destiny of humanity, but I think it will,” a cheese-hat- wearing Musk told a crowd in Green Bay on Sunday.
On Tuesday, the surrounding area — which had voted for Trump in November — was one of 10 counties to endorse Crawford amid record turnout.
Musk appeared to anticipate the negative result, admitting last month that it would be “difficult” to defeat a liberal candidate in an election that tended to elicit more enthusiasm from Democrats.
“Republicans are happy, they are not mad, they are not energised to turn out — that is why you saw Elon talking in such apocalyptic terms,” said one Republican strategist who has advised congressional candidates.
However, the strategist added, the billionaire “is a polarising figure among the Democrats’ base”. Musk “dumps gasoline on Democrats’ energy”.
There are some indications that Schimel’s loss was not driven purely by diehard Democrats turning out. Wisconsinites also voted to enshrine a requirement for voters to show ID — already a state law — into the state’s constitution. The measure is a big Maga talking point and is opposed by liberals who claim it will allow for discrimination against older voters and ethnic minorities.
But many Democrats — who also managed to improve their numbers in two special congressional elections in solid-red Florida districts on Tuesday — will see the Wisconsin win as further confirmation that Musk is far less popular than Trump and a Republican Achilles heel.
Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky said: “Not just Democrats, but independents and certainly a sizeable number of Republicans are looking at Elon Musk and saying: ‘Who is this guy?’ Why is he in our lives? Why do we have to put up with him? Why is he in charge of determining whether we’re going to be able to collect our social security checks?’”
The next significant electoral tests will be in New Jersey and Virginia, which choose new governors in November. If Musk turns up in those states, Roginsky said, “I think he will be doing Democrats a massive favour.”
For Trump’s ardent supporters the Wisconsin result may be less about Musk’s toxicity among certain voters than Republicans’ dependence on the president’s brand.
Trump himself only endorsed Schimel 11 days before the vote and did not campaign in person in the state, despite entreaties to do so.
“The political problem on the Republican side of the aisle is how to get our base to vote in off-cycle elections,” vice-president JD Vance wrote on X on Wednesday. “We’ve seen the establishment (finally) accept Donald Trump’s leadership of the Republican Party. Now it’s time to try to actually learn from his political success.”
Conservative influencer Kirk, whose group Turning Point Action campaigned for Schimel in Wisconsin, said: “The Democrats are now going to permanently enjoy this kind of [high-propensity] coalition that they’ve built. We’re still dependent on Trump’s magic.”
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