He's literally a former reality TV star. The department of transportation is one of the hardest cabinet jobs and tends to get the least respect. Of cabinet positions it's the one where you need to deploy your nerd, your smartest person, someone willing to work, someone with experience and expertise.
It's just not a cushy job.
If Elon hadn't gutted the civil service it might have been possible to just go with the flow and survive, listening to your underlings.
I feel sad when I see the transportation secretary. He's so clearly in over his head and isn't even wise enough to realize it.
As a TV star he knows how to be on time, smile for the cameras and look ready to go but that is about it.
He tried to do a little reality TV show when he started ... since that's what he knows. It's really tragic. Like watching a man charged with carving a marble statue go at the stone with plastic spoon.