Elon Musk on Wednesday announced that he is stepping down from his role as a top adviser to President Donald Trump, where he had been leading efforts to streamline and reform the federal bureaucracy.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO shared the news on X, the social media platform he owns, expressing gratitude to President Trump as his tenure as a special government employee with the Department of Government Efficiency comes to a close.
“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” he wrote. “The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”
Notably, Tesla CEO’s departure comes one day after he criticised the centerpiece of President Trump’s legislative agenda, saying he was “disappointed” by what the president calls his “big beautiful bill.”
Musk, in a conversation with CBS described the legislation, which includes a mix of tax cuts and enhanced immigration enforcement, as a “massive spending bill” that increases the federal deficit and “undermines the work” of his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful,” Musk said. “But I don’t know if it could be both.”
After Musk’s CBS interview, which came out Tuesday night, Trump on Wednesday, while speaking in the Oval Office, defended his agenda by talking about the delicate politics involved with negotiating the legislation.
“I’m not happy about certain aspects of it, but I’m thrilled by other aspects of it,” he said while hinting that more changes could be made.
“We’re going to see what happens,” he said. “It’s got a way to go.”
