UNITED STATES: Elon Musk has formally exited his role as a special government employee in the Trump administration.
The move was announced on 28 May 2025, days before the scheduled end of his 130-day mandate.
Musk had been tasked with leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an initiative launched by the administration to reduce federal spending and cut bureaucracy.
He announced his departure via a post on his platform X, writing: “As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President Donald Trump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending.”
Musk added that DOGE’s mission “will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”
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.
The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 29, 2025
His exit comes shortly after a public break with Trump over the administration’s key spending legislation.
On 27 May, Musk criticised the “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act”, a centrepiece of Trump’s domestic agenda, saying it increased the national deficit and undermined DOGE’s work.
In an interview with CBS News, Musk stated: “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.”
An excerpt of the interview aired late Tuesday, with the full broadcast scheduled for Sunday.
The White House confirmed Musk’s departure, with a senior official telling Reuters his “off-boarding will begin tonight.”
Musk’s criticism of the spending Bill has been seen as a rare public disagreement with the president.
Despite being a top supporter and the largest financial backer of Trump’s 2024 campaign, Musk distanced himself in recent weeks.
According to the Washington Post, he had already begun stepping back in late April to focus on SpaceX and Tesla.
The Bill, which passed the US House last week and is now before the Senate, includes tax relief and budget cuts.
However, analysts warn it could increase the national deficit by as much as US$4 trillion over the next decade.
“A Bill can be big, or it can be beautiful. But I don’t know if it can be both. My personal opinion,” Musk added during the CBS interview.
Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller responded on X, stating the legislation is “NOT an annual budget Bill” and that DOGE’s efforts require a separate Bill under Senate rules.
I’ve seen a few claims making the rounds on the Big Beautiful Bill that require correction.
The first is that it doesn’t “codify the DOGE cuts.” A reconciliation bill, which is a budget bill that passes with 50 votes, is limited by senate rules to “mandatory” spending only — eg…
— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) May 25, 2025
DOGE, operating from the White House and staffed largely by young technocrats, oversaw sweeping government downsizing.
A Reuters analysis found that Trump and Musk managed to cut approximately 12 per cent of the federal civilian workforce, or around 260,000 employees, through buyouts, early retirements, and terminations.
Musk has acknowledged DOGE did not accomplish all of its goals.
In an interview at SpaceX’s Starbase site, he said: “DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything.”
He added: “Something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it.”
The billionaire also cited entrenched bureaucracy as a major obstacle.
“The federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realised,” Musk said. “It’s an uphill battle trying to improve things in DC, to say the least.”
Though many praised his cost-cutting drive, critics have pointed to his lack of political experience and a domineering management style as limiting factors.
Musk, the world’s richest man, was granted sweeping authority over DOGE by Trump.
His involvement in politics has not been without consequence.
There have been growing calls from Tesla investors for Musk to step away from public affairs and refocus on the carmaker, which has seen declines in sales and stock performance.
Having spent nearly US$300 million supporting Trump and Republican candidates in 2024, Musk announced earlier this month that he would sharply reduce political contributions going forward.
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