Unelected and unappointed government adviser Elon Musk is slated to exit the Trump Administration, the Associated Press reports. The Tesla head and social media provocateur’s departure was announced on Wednesday.
Musk spearheaded DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), a new department that claimed to be dedicated to addressing government bureaucracy and waste. Part of this mission included mass layoffs, gutting of government agencies, and several ensuing lawsuits.
When Musk first began DOGE, he set a target of trimming $2 trillion in spending, but he continued to decrease his goal to $1 trillion and then, $150 billion. He faced notable backlash from other officials within the Trump administration and his popularity among MAGA devotees quickly fell.
Musk announced his departure a day after he criticized Trump’s “big beautiful bill” in an interview on CBS’s “Sunday Morning.”
“So, you know, I was like disappointed to see the massive spending bill frankly, uh, which increases the budget deficit. Not just decrease it and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk said.
“I think a bill can be…big or it can be beautiful, but I don’t know if it could be both,” he continued.
The White House is submitting proposed rescissions to Capitol Hill to cancel previously approved funding in an effort to formalize some of DOGE’s spending cuts. A spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget said the package will propose eliminating $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supports NPR and PBS, along with $8.3 billion in foreign aid.
Musk’s parting words included thanking President Trump on his social media platform X and expressing his hope that DOGE’s mission would become par for the course for governmental operations.
Musk plans on focusing on his businesses, namely Tesla and Space X.
