'Off-boarding will begin tonight': Musk out of Trump administration

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
29 May 2025 08:37

Musk announces plans to leave his US government role after criticizing Trump's major spending bill.

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Co-leader of the Department of Government Efficiency Elon Musk looks on as US President Donald Trump meets with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 21, 2025. (AFP)

Billionaire Elon Musk announced he is leaving his role in the US government overseeing federal spending reductions, marking a rare public divergence from President Donald Trump over his flagship spending legislation.

"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," Musk, who announced last week that he would reduce his political spending, wrote on his social media platform X.

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.

The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 29, 2025

"The DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government," he added.

Musk's "off-boarding will begin tonight," a White House official told Reuters late Wednesday, confirming the billionaire's departure from government.

Musk criticizes Trump's 'One Big, Beautiful Bill Act'

The South African-born tech magnate's decision comes shortly after criticizing Trump’s signature “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” which passed the US House of Representatives and is currently under Senate consideration.

The legislation, a cornerstone of Trump’s domestic agenda, combines extensive tax cuts with sweeping spending adjustments.

Musk, who had previously stood closely alongside Trump during his 2024 campaign and early months in office, argued that the bill increases the federal budget deficit and undermines the work of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which he led.

Split with Trump over spending bill

In an interview for CBS News, Musk said, "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."

Trump’s administration attempted to minimize the rift. Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller posted on X: “The Big Beautiful Bill is NOT an annual budget bill,” adding that DOGE-related cuts would need separate legislation targeting the federal bureaucracy.

Still, Musk's criticism represents a notable shift in his public stance toward Trump, whom he supported with significant financial contributions during the 2024 election. Reports suggest Musk contributed nearly a quarter of a billion dollars to the campaign.

Challenges facing DOGE and federal cuts

Musk has frequently voiced frustration with the entrenched US federal bureaucracy, which he blames for DOGE’s limited success despite large-scale layoffs and departmental closures.

"The federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realized," he said. "I thought there were problems, but it sure is an uphill battle trying to improve things in DC, to say the least."

In an interview for The Washington Post conducted at the Starbase launch site in Texas, Musk noted that DOGE had become a scapegoat for broader dissatisfaction.

“DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything,” he said. “Something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it.”

Fallout on Musk's businesses and public image

While Musk was focused on cutting federal costs, his own ventures were negatively affected. Protesters targeted Tesla dealerships, with some vehicles even set on fire. Tesla's profits declined during this period.

“People were burning Teslas. Why would you do that? That’s really uncool,” Musk told the Post.

Simultaneously, Musk has turned more attention to Space X following a series of setbacks in its Mars colonization program. Just this week, a prototype Starship exploded over the Indian Ocean during testing.