Elon Musk is leaving the Trump administration. As a leading advisor to President Donald Trump, Elon Musk is stepping down from his government position after leading the charge to streamline and cut the federal bureaucracy.
A chaotic chapter, marked by thousands of layoffs, the dismantling of government agencies, and reams of litigation, came to a close Wednesday night with the announcement of his departure. The millionaire businessman struggled in Washington’s unusual climate, despite the turmoil, and achieved far less than he had intended.
Despite this, he did reduce spending by $150 billion.
Musk had always meant his time with Trump to be brief, and he had lately hinted that he would return to managing his companies, including SpaceX and Tesla, which are electric cars and rockets, respectively.
However, government officials frequently lacked clarity regarding Musk’s departure date from his leadership role at the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Musk abruptly announced his departure in a post on his social networking platform, X.
“As my appointed term as a Special Government Employee draws to a close, I want to express my gratitude to President @realDonaldTrump for the chance to cut unnecessary spending,” he tweeted. “As it becomes ingrained in the government, the @DOGE mission will only grow stronger over time.”
Musk’s exit was confirmed by a White House official who asked to remain anonymous when discussing the situation.
Musk made his announcement the same day that CBS published a portion of an interview in which he expressed disappointment with the president’s “big beautiful bill,” which is the centerpiece of his legislative agenda.
A combination of increased immigration enforcement and tax cuts is included in the law. In addition to raising the government deficit, Musk said the “massive spending bill “undermines the work of his Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
“I believe that a bill can be large or elegant,” Musk remarked. “However, it is possible for a bill to be both large and elegant, although I am uncertain about that.”
Trump discussed the tricky politics of negotiating the legislation in his speech in the Oval Office on Wednesday in order to defend his objectives.
“I’m excited by some parts of it, but I’m not happy about other parts of it,” he remarked.
Trump also hinted at the possibility of additional reforms.
He remarked, “We’ll see what happens.” “There is still a significant amount of work ahead.”
The proposal was recently passed by the House and is currently being discussed in the Senate by Republicans.
Some Republicans in Congress share Musk’s worries. “I understand that Elon is feeling disheartened,” remarked Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.
“I am fairly confident that there is enough opposition to slow this process down until the president, our leadership, gets serious” about cutting spending, Johnson said Wednesday at a Milwaukee Press Club event. He claimed that no amount of pressure from Trump could persuade him to do otherwise.
Speaker Mike Johnson has urged senators to make minimal modifications to the bill, claiming that House Republicans have struck a “very delicate balance” that could be upset by significant adjustments. If the Senate changes the bill, the House, which is evenly divided, will have to vote again on ultimate passage.
Johnson expressed gratitude to Musk for his efforts on Wednesday and pledged to continue cutting spending going forward, stating that “the House is eager and ready to act on DOGE’s findings.”
To bolster some of DOGE’s cuts, the White House is submitting some planned rescissions—a tool for stopping previously approved spending—to Hill Hill. The package will include $8.3 billion in foreign aid and $1.1 billion from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, which supports NPR and PBS, according to an Office of Management and Budget official.
Musk’s experience in government seemed to chastise him at times.
He said to The Washington Post, “I didn’t realize how bad the federal bureaucracy situation was.” “To put it mildly, I thought there were issues, but trying to improve things in D.C. is a difficult task.”
Because “I think I’ve done enough,” he just announced that he will cut back on his political expenditures.
The chance to change Washington had previously inspired Musk. He wore campaign caps in the White House, hosted his own campaign rallies, and spoke about excessive spending as an existential crisis after contributing at least $250 million to Trump’s campaign. He frequently tended to laud Trump eloquently.
Musk stated in February that he liked President Trump more the more he got to know him. “I really do love him.”
Trump reciprocated by calling Musk “a truly great American.” In order to express his support for Tesla while its sales were down, he converted the White House driveway into a temporary dealership.
It’s uncertain whether Musk’s remarks regarding the measure would have any effect on the legislative discussion, particularly considering that he left the administration. He helped incite opposition to a funding proposal as the nation was on the verge of a federal government shutdown during the transition period, when his influence was growing.
Republicans advocating for more expenditure cuts may feel more confident after his most recent criticism. In addition to reposting a Fox News article about Musk’s interview, Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah added his thoughts on the measure, stating that there was “still time to fix it.”
Lee predicted that the Senate version will be more combative. It is, must be, and can be. else it won’t go through.
Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio were the only two Republicans to vote against the bill when it was introduced in the House last week.
According to a preliminary assessment by the Congressional Budget Office, the tax measures would lower federal expenditure by slightly more than $1 trillion over the same ten-year period, while the changes to Medicaid, food stamps, and other services would increase federal deficits by $3.8 trillion.
Increased economic development, according to House Republican leaders, would enable the plan to either reduce or neutralise the deficit.
