Washington, D.C. — Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has officially stepped down from his role as a “Special Government Employee” in the Trump administration, citing the end of his scheduled tenure and expressing concerns over rising government expenditure.
“In my final days as a Special Government Employee, I want to thank President Donald Trump for the opportunity to help reduce wasteful spending,” Musk said in a post on social media platform X. He added, “As the DOGE mission becomes embedded within the government, I believe it will only grow stronger with time.”
Musk’s resignation follows a wave of public protests against his involvement in the Trump administration. While he had taken on the advisory role to support government efficiency through the so-called DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) initiative, his presence in the White House drew significant backlash from both political and tech circles.
Sources told CNN that Musk has since returned to his business operations full-time and is reportedly “spending 24/7 at work,” often sleeping in conference rooms as he attempts to stabilize his vast business empire.
Musk is currently juggling multiple challenges across his companies:
-
Tesla’s sales are slipping, and its long-hyped Cybertruck is now being labelled a commercial failure.
-
X (formerly Twitter) suffered a major outage last weekend, just days after its AI division, xAI’s Grok, made headlines for promoting conspiracy theories, including “White genocide” narratives.
-
Meanwhile, SpaceX’s latest Starship launch ended in disaster, with the rocket spinning out of control and disintegrating over the Indian Ocean, according to CNN.
Despite these setbacks, Musk’s return appears to have reassured investors. Tesla shares have risen 25% over the past month, though they remain well below their December 2024 peak. Much of the market optimism hinges on Musk’s promised rollout of a fully autonomous robotaxi service in Austin, Texas — a bold step meant to revive Tesla’s lagging momentum.
In a recently released video, Musk voiced concern about President Trump’s new tax-and-spending bill. “Frankly, I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, which increases the budget deficit rather than cutting it,” he said. “That undermines the very work the DOGE team was created to do.”
He quipped, “A bill can be big or it can be beautiful — I’m not sure it can be both.”
While Musk’s departure from the White House marks the end of his direct involvement, insiders suggest the DOGE initiative will continue, with embedded staffers across federal departments expected to carry on the work of streamlining government operations for months or even years.
Musk’s brief foray into public service may have ended, but its ripple effects — both political and corporate — are likely to play out long after his exit.
