His announcement comes amid rising tensions over President Donald Trump’s budget bill and mounting pressure from his flagship company, Tesla.
The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has officially declared his exit from the Donald Trump administration, ending a controversial stint as a special government employee with the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).
His announcement comes amid rising tensions over President Donald Trump’s budget bill and mounting pressure from his flagship company, Tesla.
The resignation was made public on Wednesday night through a post on his social media platform, 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,” Musk wrote.
“The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”
Although his role was always intended to be temporary—capped at 130 days per year—his departure comes just one day after he expressed disappointment with the centrepiece of President Trump’s legislative agenda. Musk had criticised the administration’s budget bill, saying it would significantly increase the federal deficit.
In an interview with CBS, Musk said the bill—described by Trump as a “big, beautiful bill”—would negatively impact fiscal responsibility. “I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful,” he said. “But I don’t know if it could be both.”
He also stated that the proposal “undermines the work” of Doge.
Musk was appointed to lead Doge shortly after Trump’s inauguration in January. He initially pledged to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget, though that goal was later reduced to $150 billion.
Under the programme, an estimated 260,000 federal employees either lost their jobs or accepted redundancy packages.
However, the initiative was not without controversy. Some of the job cuts were challenged in court, with federal judges ordering the reinstatement of certain employees, including those from the U.S. nuclear programme.
Musk had increasingly come under fire for his involvement with the administration. “Doge is just becoming the whipping boy for everything,” he told the Washington Post during a SpaceX event in Texas. “Something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it.”
His time in government also coincided with a downturn in Tesla’s performance. The company reported a 13% drop in vehicle sales in the first quarter of the year—the largest in its history. Its stock price fell by as much as 45%, though it has since partially recovered.
On a recent earnings call, Musk confirmed plans to step back from public duties. “The time I allocate to Doge will drop significantly,” he said, adding that he would be “allocating far more of my time to Tesla.”
Protests against Musk’s political involvement have erupted across the United States, with activists staging demonstrations and vandalising Tesla cars and charging stations. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has since warned that such acts would be treated as “domestic terrorism.”
During a forum in Doha on Tuesday, Musk reiterated his commitment to remain as Tesla’s chief executive for at least the next five years. He also disclosed plans to scale back political donations after spending nearly $300 million supporting Trump and other Republican candidates last year.
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