Tech billionaire Elon Musk officially announced Wednesday that his time as a top adviser in the Trump administration has come to an end. He will hold press conference with the president today.
Musk’s departure from the Department of Government Efficiency marks the end of a bumpy chapter that included thousands of layoffs of federal employees, the shuttering of various agencies and a firestorm of challenges both in the courts and at his companies.
Musk took a leading role in the administration with promises to reduce wasteful government spending and end the “tyranny of bureaucracy.” As he leaves his post to return focus to his business ventures, was he successful with his goals for DOGE?
Musk’s departure
Musk has been leading the department since President Donald Trump’s inauguration day in January as a “special government employee.”
A special government employee is someone within the executive branch or federal government who is appointed to serve for a period not exceeding 130 days during a period of 365 consecutive days, meaning Musk’s tenure at DOGE would come to an end around this time.
Musk shared earlier this month during a Tesla earnings call that his time allocation to DOGE would “drop significantly” as shares have fallen this year at Tesla and he shifts focus to his rocket company SpaceX.
At first, it was unknown when Musk would take a step back from his position with DOGE, but he announced Wednesday on X, the social platform he owns, that his scheduled time as a special government employee was coming 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.”
Musk, the world’s richest person, rose to political fame over the last year after spending at least $250 million on Trump’s 2024 campaign. His influence grew after being appointed to lead DOGE and he was viewed as a key player in Republican Party politics.
However, his efforts to influence the Wisconsin Supreme Court race in April did not pan out. Musk spent at least $3 million of his own money to elect the conservative candidate, gave out $1 million checks through his America PAC and spent more through various groups, but the state elected the liberal candidate in the race, dealing a political blow to Musk.
In May, Musk said he would be spending a “lot less” on political campaigns in the future than he did before, saying he thinks he’s “done enough.” He also criticized the Trump-backed “big, beautiful bill.”
Spending and workforce cuts
One of Musk’s leading goals was to reduce federal spending. Musk and DOGE acted at lightning speed to enact changes across agencies and departments, leaving Congress scrambling to keep up and workers wondering if they would be cut next.
While Musk celebrated DOGE’s cuts to the federal budget, critics said the savings came at a price — and watchdogs question the numbers, reasoning and logistics behind DOGE’s reporting.
Musk first promised to cut spending by $2 trillion, which he later reduced to $1 trillion and then down to about $150 billion, The Associated Press reported.
As of May 26, DOGE shared it saved an estimated $175 billion through a combination of asset sales, contract and lease cancellations, fraud and improper payment deletion, programmatic changes, workforce reductions and more.
DOGE said it has saved the average taxpayer $1,086 through the cuts, its website said. However, DOGE has not said where the remaining spending cuts would come from, and a BBC analysis in April found just $61.5 billion of the total savings were itemized so far.
Despite Musk and Trump insisting the administration would cut back on Biden-era spending, a CBS News report found the government spent over $200 billion more in Trump’s first 100 days compared to 2024 spending.
According to a New York Times analysis of layoffs, nearly 60,000 federal workers have been laid off. About 76,000 took DOGE’s buyout offer and nearly 150,000 more are expected to be impacted by reduction plans for the federal workforce.
Some of the largest cuts come from DOGE’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Voice of America, AmeriCorps, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Education, the analysis found.
DOGE said on its website that it terminated nearly 500 real estate leases, totaling $216 million in savings. Nearly 50 Social Security Administration offices are expected to close within the year, even as the agency looks to require in-person identity checks in field offices for new and existing beneficiaries, with some exceptions. The changes will require people to make more trips to understaffed field offices, a new study found.
Legal challenges
While Musk and DOGE have faced fierce pushback from Democrats in Congress and protesters across the country for the cuts, several of the department’s actions have held up in court.
According to a New York Times roundup of legal dockets, there are more than two dozen open cases against Musk and DOGE’s actions, over various issues including shuttering the U.S. Institute of Peace, the department gaining access to Americans’ data and the American Privacy Act, mass layoffs and more.
The legal battles have already begun to play out in the courts.
Thousands of people fired by DOGE earlier this year were reinstated in February after a court order, but later decisions from the Supreme Court and an appeals court blocked the lower court ruling that would have reinstated the workers.
Some of Musk’s critics are pointing to the legal battles as a reason for him leaving the administration, noting how the cases are setbacks to DOGE’s efforts.
What people are saying
Musk’s departure from the administration was largely uneventful after he shared the news online later Wednesday.
Sources familiar with the matter confirmed to Reuters that Musk’s “off-boarding” process began Wednesday evening and the tech CEO did not have a formal conversation with Trump before his announcement. Musk’s departure was decided at “a senior staff level,” Reuters reported.
Musk and Trump are expected to hold a press conference together on Friday.
The Trump administration and GOP allies insist that Musk’s effort to downsize the government was effective.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed Musk’s departure during Thursday’s press briefing, saying the administration thanks him for his service and “getting DOGE off of the ground.”
The department’s efforts to cut “waste, fraud and abuse will continue,” Leavitt said.
Utah Sen. Mike Lee shared several posts online praising Musk’s time in the administration. Lee thanked Musk for his service and said he was “confident” that Musk’s critics will live to see him “proven right.”
“Thank you for everything you have done, and will continue to do, for our country, Elon,” Lee said in a separate post. “This is just the beginning.”
Musk’s critics also weighed in on his step back from the administration.
Former White House ethics czar Norm Eisen dismissed the idea that Musk was retreating from DOGE because his 130-day timeline as a special government employee was up. Eisen argued that the legal battles facing Musk and DOGE were the real reason he is leaving his post.
“Give me a break, Musk is not leaving because his scheduled time is up,” Eisen shared Wednesday on BlueSky. “The litigation held him accountable, & for that & other reasons he became politically unpopular & a liability.”
Attorney and fierce Trump critic George Conway agreed with Eisen, noting that the 130-day limit “just happened to be the one law” Musk complied with. Conway said Musk clashed with the courts and public opinion of him dropped, saying “good riddance.”
After posting his farewell message on Wednesday, Musk spent Thursday posting on X about his other business ventures, including Tesla, SpaceX and X’s AI tool grok.