Washington, D.C. [US], May 29 (ANI): Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced on Thursday that he is stepping down from his position as a “Special Government Employee” in the Trump administration, concluding his brief but controversial tenure focused on reducing government spending. The move comes amid a wave of public protests and growing scrutiny of Musk’s multiple corporate challenges.
In a post on X, Musk expressed gratitude to President Donald Trump for the opportunity, stating, “As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President Donald Trump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending. The DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”
Musk was appointed to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a task force aimed at identifying and cutting down on federal waste. However, in a video released Tuesday, Musk expressed disapproval of Trump’s recently passed sweeping tax and spending cuts package, calling it counterproductive. “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 said. “I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don’t know if it can be both,” he added.
Despite Musk’s departure, the DOGE initiative is expected to continue. According to officials, embedded DOGE staffers across multiple federal agencies will remain in place for months or even years, tasked with ensuring long-term fiscal discipline.
Meanwhile, Musk is now shifting his full attention back to his private enterprises. On Wednesday, he told CNN that he was “back to spending 24/7 at work” and sleeping in conference rooms, signaling a return to his intense leadership style.
His return comes at a critical time, as several of his companies face mounting pressure:
- Tesla is grappling with declining sales and lukewarm reception to the long-awaited Cybertruck, which analysts are already calling a commercial misfire.
- X (formerly Twitter) continues to struggle with operational instability and content moderation issues. A major outage over the weekend compounded concerns just weeks after its AI chatbot, Grok, was found circulating conspiracy theories.
- SpaceX suffered another setback with its latest Starship launch, which spun out of control and disintegrated over the Indian Ocean late Tuesday.
Despite the turbulent landscape, Tesla’s stock has rallied in the past month—rising 25%—as investors welcomed Musk’s renewed focus on his core businesses. That optimism, however, hinges on Musk’s ability to deliver on promises, including the impending launch of a robotaxi service in Austin, Texas.
As Musk exits the political stage, it remains to be seen how his absence will impact the Trump administration’s fiscal reform goals. Still, with his attention now redirected, the business world will be watching closely to see if Musk can steady the ship across his corporate empire. (ANI)
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