Elon Musk has confirmed the end of his stint as the White House’s government cost-cutting lead, admitting the role was an “uphill battle” in slashing federal jobs and programs.
Musk’s position as a Special Government Employee leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was legally capped at 130 days, concluding on May 30.
Musk confirmed his exit in a May 29 X post, thanking President Donald Trump “for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending.” Reuters reported that a White House official confirmed his “off-boarding will begin tonight.”
Musk told The Washington Post that the “federal bureaucracy situation is much worse” than he anticipated, describing attempts to improve things in Washington D.C. as “an uphill battle, to say the least.”
In separate comments to CBS, Musk criticized the multi-trillion-dollar tax break package approved by House Republicans on May 22, claiming it would increase the budget deficit and undermine DOGE’s work.
DOGE, named after the cryptocurrency, claims to have saved taxpayers $175 billion since Trump’s return to the White House on Jan. 20. This figure is heavily disputed by multiple news outlets, which cite overstatements, errors, and inaccuracies.
The project’s claimed savings represent only 8.5% of Musk’s initial $2 trillion budget cut ambition, later revised to $150 billion.
According to Reuters, DOGE has cut nearly 12%, or 260,000, of the 2.3 million federal workforce through layoffs, buyouts, and early retirement offers.
Despite the criticisms, Musk stated on X that DOGE’s mission will “only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”
This news arrives as a federal judge allowed a lawsuit to proceed accusing Musk and DOGE of illegally exerting power over government operations.
The lawsuit, filed by 14 states, alleges that Musk and DOGE violated the Constitution by illegally accessing government data systems, terminating federal employees, and canceling contracts at federal agencies.
Musk admits he spent too much time in politics
In a May 28 interview with Ars Technica, Musk admitted that he spent “a bit too much time” in politics, which some critics claim has impacted Tesla’s performance.
“I think I probably did spend a bit too much time on politics,” Musk said. However, he added that his involvement with DOGE wasn’t as substantial as perceived, blaming media overrepresentation.
“It’s not like I left the companies. It was just relative time allocation that probably was a little too high on the government side, and I’ve reduced that significantly in recent weeks.”
Following Musk’s announcement in Tesla’s first-quarter report that his time spent on DOGE would decrease significantly in May, Tesla (TSLA) shares rose over 5% in after-hours trading, despite an 80% drop in net income.
As of March 31, Tesla still held 11,509 Bitcoin (BTC), currently valued at approximately $1.24 billion.
Tesla shares are down 5.9% year-to-date, partly due to Musk’s diverted attention and declining sales in the first quarter.
However, this decline aligns with other Big Tech firms like Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA), Amazon (AMZN), and Google (GOOG), which also face year-to-date losses in 2025.