Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, announced his departure on May 28. After 130 days as a special government employee, Musk joined Trump for a last press conference at the White House on May 30.
The agency was officially established in early 2025 by an executive order. DOGE was created in order to cut costs in the federal government to make a more balanced budget. In the following months, DOGE made frequent small cuts in spending, with current estimates hovering around $30 billion to $50+ billion, although exact amounts are unclear. Additionally, he shrunk the size of the federal government by firing thousands of federal workers. DOGE cut federal spending by $175 billion falling short of its promised $2 trillion.
On his own social media platform X, Musk thanked Trump for the opportunity to lead DOGE. Musk had previously stated he would step back from his government role to focus on his companies. During his time in the administration, Tesla’s sales and profits dropped. According to the CNBC All-America Economic survey, roughly half of the public holds a negative opinion of Tesla and Musk. In addition to the impacts on his business, Musk has faced legal challenges while at DOGE. A federal judge accepted a case opposing DOGE’s authority as a part of the federal government. Additional lawsuits have targeted DOGE’s attempts to collect sensitive data.
Although his exit was expected — as a special government employee, he was permitted to work for 130 days, or from Jan. 20 to May 30 — it comes a day after Musk criticized the administration’s agenda. Musk recently expressed disappointment with a spending bill on which Trump focused his campaign. The “One Big Beautiful Bill,” recently passed in the House, would provide tax cuts to many businesses and individuals, as well as impose work requirements on Medicaid qualifications.
“I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk stated in an exclusive CBS interview.
The 130-day limit for Musk’s role will reset in Jan. 2026, meaning Musk could potentially return. DOGE employees are expected to remain even after Musk exits his role. While the executive order establishing DOGE set up an end date of July 4, 2026, a former DOGE staffer believes it will likely fall apart without Musk.
“So much of the appeal and allure was Elon,” software engineer and former DOGE employee Sahil Lavingia stated. “[The staffers will likely] just stop showing up to work. It’s like kids joining a startup that will go out of business in four months.”
