Elon Musk has officially left the Trump administration, capping the billionaire tech entrepreneur’s turbulent run leading a contentious effort to slash the federal government.
Musk, who had already taken on a smaller role leading the Department of Government Efficiency, announced his departure in a May 28 post on X. It comes as his designation as a “special government employee” ‒ which allowed him to stay on the job for 130 calendar days a year ‒ has ended.
“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Musk said. “The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”
A White House official confirmed Musk’s exit, telling USA Today, “The off boarding process has begun.”
As the head of DOGE, Musk led a controversial effort to rapidly gut the government and fire federal workers. DOGE, which is manned by more than 100 government employees, is set to continue operating without Musk in charge. But it is unclear how much power the group will maintain without its famous leader.
Musk had already shifted his attention back to his business empire after Tesla, his electric car company, suffered financial losses after he became a polarizing figure as President Donald Trump’s chief sidekick. This week, Musk took part in a blitz of media interviews from the headquarters of his company SpaceX in South Texas, coinciding with the latest test flight of his Starship spacecraft.
The day before his departure, Musk criticized Trump’s massive tax and spending bill that the president has dubbed the “big, beautiful bill.” The bill, which includes Trump’s domestic agenda on items ranging from border security to tax cuts, passed the House along party lines last week. It now heads to the Senate.
“I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk said in a May 27 interview on CBS Sunday Morning.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would add $3.8 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years.
“I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don’t know if it can be both. My personal opinion,” Musk said in the interview.
DOGE has boasted of saving the federal government more than $175 billion through cuts ‒ though the group’s declared savings have often been exaggerated or misleading. The office has dismantled entire federal agencies and led to the terminations of tens of thousands of federal workers.
Musk downplayed the effect his absence could have on DOGE’s survival during an interview with USA TODAY and other media outlets earlier this month.
“Is Buddha needed for Buddhism?” Musk said when asked who on the DOGE team will fill the void. “DOGE is a way of life.” (USA Today)
