American Businessman and Investor, Elon Musk has said he is leaving the Trump administration after helping lead a tumultuous move to reduce the size of US government that saw thousands of federal jobs axed.
Posting on his social media platform, X, Musk expressed his gratitude to President Trump for the opportunity to help run the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE.
Musk’s exit is not a surprise as his role was temporary, however, it is coming a day after the Tesla CEO criticised the legislative centrepiece of Trump’s agenda.
Elon Musk wrote on X: “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.”
The tech tycoon, South African-born, had been designated as a “special government employee” – allowing him to work a federal job for 130 days each year.
However, his exit is coming a day after he said he was “disappointed” with Trump’s budget bill, which proposes multi-trillion dollar tax breaks and a boost to defence spending.
Musk, who had clashed in private with some cabinet-level officials of President Trump, initially pledged to slash “at least $2 trillion” from the federal government budget, before halving this target, then reducing it to $150bn.
As a result of Doge, an estimated 260,000 out of the 2.3 million-strong federal civilian workforce have had their jobs cut or accepted redundancy deals.
In some cases, federal judges intercepted the mass firings and issued an order that terminated employees to be reinstated.
Musk made the announcement in late April that he would step back to manage his companies again after emerging a lightning rod for criticism of Trump’s efforts to shake up Washington.
