Tesla has denied reports that it has contacted recruitment firms to launch a search for a replacement for Elon Musk as chief executive. The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the electric car firm's board began looking for a successor to Mr Musk last month.

Elon Musk might soon be leaving Washington, but he says DOGE needs to be a long-term project. Musk insisted in a TV interview that the project to slash government spending and eliminate entire agencies ought to endure amid signs that he may soon step away from the effort and return to his struggling electric car company.

Elon Musk admitted that his cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has not lived up to his initial promises to slash federal spending by $2 trillion. "In the grand scheme of things, I think we've been effective.