Staff in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are working 120-hour weeks to cut government waste, Elon Musk has claimed as he wages war against his so-called “bureaucratic opponents”.
Posting on X, the Tesla billionaire claimed he and his team have been able to outmanoeuvre federal agencies by working three times as many hours as them in a week.
“DOGE is working 120 hours a week. Our bureaucratic opponents optimistically work 40 hours a week. That is why they are losing so fast,” Musk wrote on X.
He was responding to an X user who praised DOGE’s efforts, claiming the agency had uncovered “massive waste, fraud, and abuse of our tax dollars… in the first two weeks”.
The number of hours suggested by Musk would require his department to work seven days a week with just four hours off a day for sleep.
Labour unions and watchdog groups have raised concerns about workplace conditions, with some alleging that DOGE employees face unrealistic expectations and burnout.
But Musk has dismissed such claims, saying working the weekend is “a superpower”.
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