Musk leaves his role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, citing differences over Trump’s spending bill and reflecting on missed goals.
May 29, 2025: Space and technology billionaire Elon Musk announced on Wednesday that he has stepped down as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), bringing an end to his controversial stint in the Trump administration. Musk thanked the US President for the opportunity and said he believed the DOGE mission would evolve into a “way of life” within the government.
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Musk’s departure comes just one day after he criticized President Trump’s massive spending bill. “A bill can be big, or it can be beautiful. But I don’t know if it can be both. My personal opinion,” Musk said, expressing concern over how the bill undermines DOGE’s cost-cutting mission.
A key supporter and the largest donor to Trump’s 2024 election campaign, Musk had remained close to the President throughout his tenure. Trump even lauded Musk as “a star is born” during his victory speech.
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At DOGE, Musk sought out “super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries” to trim bloated budgets and reduce government waste. His team aggressively cut tens of thousands of positions and downsized or shut down several departments. However, this also put him at odds with other senior officials and sparked intense criticism from within the administration.
By late April, Musk began to publicly acknowledge the challenges and controversies surrounding DOGE. “It had become a whipping boy for the administration’s issues,” he said, admitting that he didn’t achieve all his objectives.
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Adding to his troubles, a US District judge recently ruled that Musk must face a lawsuit alleging he wielded illegal power as DOGE head, with cases seeking to block DOGE’s access to sensitive American data.
Musk’s attention has also turned back to his businesses. Tesla dealerships have been targeted by arsonists amid falling share prices, and SpaceX suffered a setback when its Starship rocket exploded during its ninth test flight over the Indian Ocean. On top of that, a two-hour outage of Musk’s social media platform X on Saturday further highlighted challenges he faces outside the government.
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Elon Musk, Donald Trump, DOGE, US politics, government reforms, budget cuts, Starship test failure, SpaceX, Tesla