Washington, D.C., February 17, 2025 – Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE, has reduced the staffing of a key team at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) responsible for regulating autonomous vehicles, according to The Washington Post.
The move, which includes nearly half of the team, is part of a broader 10% reduction at the agency through firings, buyout offers, and the release of probationary workers.
The staffing cuts come as the NHTSA prepares for Tesla’s planned robotaxi launch in Austin later this year. The agency has conducted several investigations into Tesla following incidents that occurred while its Autopilot system was engaged. In October, NHTSA opened a new investigation into Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” software after four crashes in low-visibility conditions, one of which resulted in a pedestrian fatality.
Internal discussions reported by The Washington Post reveal that the reductions affected not only workers involved in crash test support and safety grant funding but also led to the elimination of three positions in a newly established office dedicated to overseeing autonomous vehicles. Sources cited by the Post suggested that these cuts could impair the federal government’s ability to assess the safety of Tesla’s vehicles.
NHTSA’s regulatory approach has also come under scrutiny from other companies in the autonomous vehicle industry, including Alphabet’s Waymo and Amazon’s Zoox, both of which are facing their own safety investigations related to their automated driving software.
TechCrunch has reached out to both NHTSA and DOGE for additional comment on the staffing changes and their potential impact on the agency’s oversight capabilities. As the autonomous vehicle industry continues to evolve, the effectiveness of federal regulation remains a subject of close attention among industry observers and policymakers alike.
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