The federal agency that regulates vehicle and traffic safety, which has been investigating Elon Musk's Tesla, has laid off about 4% of its workforce.

Musk has accused the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of holding back progress on self-driving technology with its investigations and recalls.

Cuts to the new autonomous vehicle team will also reduce oversight on the industry as a whole, comprised of massive tech companies and their self-driving subsidiaries like Alphabet-owned Waymo , and Amazon's Zoox autonomous taxis. Both have also faced regulatory oversight from the NHTSA in recent years ranging from crash investigations to recalls.

Elon Musk's chainsaw has been swinging through the federal government over the last few weeks, with his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chopping down budgets and excising staff at a number of agencies.

Musk's cost-cutting push is reshaping federal oversight--raising fears of weakened regulations and a major shake-up in self-driving tech.

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is firing nearly half of a small government team that regulates autonomous vehicles. The firings are part of a broader 10% reduction at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) due to probationary worker firings and buyout offers.