Elon Musk has begun the process of stepping down from his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Musk has served as the public face of DOGE since President Trump took office in January. In the months since, DOGE has torn through bloated federal agencies like a wrecking ball, targeting waste, corruption, and bureaucratic rot with unapologetic precision, much to the chagrin of the Democrats
In a post on X Wednesday night, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO announced that his time as a special government employee is nearing its conclusion.
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.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 29, 2025
The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.
Naturally, the media, which has been trying to drive a wedge between Musk and Trump for months, has been framing Musk’s departure as being due to a falling out between him and Trump, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Here are the facts.
Musk was officially appointed as a “special government employee,” a unique designation created by Congress back in 1962 that allows the executive or legislative branch to bring in outsiders for short-term, high-impact missions. These roles are capped at 130 days per year, and Musk’s clock started ticking on January 20. That window runs out on May 30.
Legacy media is trying to frame Elon’s departure from DOGE as the result of a falling out with Trump.
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) May 29, 2025
-Elon was a special govt employee
-Special govt employees can serve 130 days
-130 days after January 20th is May 30th, this Friday.
They are either retarded or think you are. https://t.co/qim94zjc5W
DOGE itself is a temporary, cross-agency strike force designed to slim down and streamline the federal government. Under Trump’s order, the entire initiative is scheduled to sunset on July 4, 2026.
Trump first hinted at Musk’s impending departure during remarks to reporters on March 31, when asked whether he wanted Musk to stay in his government role beyond the 130-day limit set by law.
“I think he’s amazing. But I also think he’s got a big company to run,” Trump said at the time. “And so at some point, he’s going to be going back.”
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Trump made it clear he valued Musk’s contributions and would keep him onboard if he could. “I’d keep him as long as I can keep him,” Trump said. “He’s a very talented guy. You know, I love very smart people. He’s very smart. And he’s done a good job,” he added, before praising DOGE’s impact. “DOGE is — we’ve found numbers that nobody can even believe.”
More recently, Musk said during a Tesla earnings call on April 22 that he will take a step back from his work as DOGE's leader.
"I think starting probably in next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly," Musk said during Tesla’s earnings conference call. "I’ll have to continue doing it for, I think, the remainder of the president’s term just to make sure the waste and fraud that we stopped does not come roaring back, which it will do if it has the chance. So I think I’ll continue to spend, you know, a day or two per week on government matters for as long as the president would like me to do so and as long as it is useful."
"But starting next month," he added, "I’ll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla now that the major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency is done."
Godspeed, Elon Musk!
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