- Musk served 130 days as a special advisor with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
- He claimed $55B in savings, later revised due to overstatements.
- Musk criticized Trump’s major spending bill before stepping down.
Elon Musk has officially stepped down from his advisory role in Donald Trump’s administration after completing the maximum allowed 130 days as a special government employee.
Despite touting $55 billion in savings, audits revealed inflated figures, forcing a downward revision of nearly $10 billion. Musk’s outspoken opposition to Trump’s latest spending package further strained relations within the administration, culminating in a tense and public departure.
Musk’s Government Exit Marks End of a Disruptive Advisory Role
Elon Musk’s time in the Trump administration ended as abruptly as it began, with the billionaire entrepreneur walking away from his role in DOGE. He had been brought in as a high-profile figure to champion efficiency, but his methods—like abrupt layoffs and sweeping program eliminations—sparked legal battles and heavy media scrutiny.
Initially optimistic, Musk’s goal of cutting $2 trillion in federal expenditures was soon walked back to $150 billion. Even the revised figure proved elusive, and audits revealed that the claimed savings included questionable calculations. Public trust in DOGE’s metrics began to erode under the weight of these inconsistencies.
Tensions reached a breaking point when Musk slammed a large bipartisan spending bill endorsed by Trump, labeling it antithetical to DOGE’s mission. His comments were widely interpreted as a public rebuke of the president, creating a political rift that made his continued presence untenable.
In his exit statement, Musk emphasized his desire to return to Tesla, SpaceX, and other ventures, signaling the end of his foray into government reform. He admitted that politics had become a distraction from his primary work, and thanked the administration for the opportunity.
Elon Musk’s departure underscores the challenges of blending Silicon Valley disruption with entrenched government systems—an experiment that ultimately ended in friction rather than reform.
“Being in the government was like trying to run Tesla inside a cement mixer filled with molasses.” – Elon Musk, paraphrased from recent remarks.
