Elon Musk confirms exit from US government role

Washington: Billionaire Elon Musk on Wednesday announced he was leaving his role in US government, intended to reduce federal spending, shortly after his first major break with President Donald Trump over his signature spending bill.

"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," he wrote on his social media platform X.

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

The South African-born tech tycoon had said Trump's bill would increase the deficit and undermine the work of Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has fired tens of thousands of people.

Musk - who was a constant presence at Trump's side before pulling back to focus on his Space X and Tesla businesses - also complained that DOGE had become a "whipping boy" for dissatisfaction with the administration.

"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 in an interview with CBS News, an excerpt of which aired late Tuesday.

Trump's "One Big, Beautiful Bill Act" - which passed the US House last week and now moves to the Senate - offers sprawling tax relief and spending cuts and is the centerpiece of his domestic agenda.

But critics warn it will decimate health care and balloon the national deficit by as much as $4 trillion over a decade.

"A bill can be big, or it can be beautiful. But I don't know if it can be both. My personal opinion," Musk said in the interview, which will be aired in full on Sunday.

The White House sought to play down any differences over US government spending, without directly naming Musk.

"The Big Beautiful Bill is NOT an annual budget bill," Trump's Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said on Musk's social network, X, after the tech titan's comments aired.

All DOGE cuts would have to be carried out through a separate bill targeting the federal bureaucracy, according to US Senate rules, Miller added.

But Musk's comments represented a rare split with the Republican president whom he helped propel back to power, as the largest donor to his 2024 election campaign.

Trump tasked Musk with cutting government spending as head of DOGE, but after a feverish start Musk announced in late April he was mostly stepping back to run his companies again.

Musk complained in a separate interview with the Washington Post that DOGE, which operated out of the White House with a staff of young technicians, had become a lightning rod for criticism.

"DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything," Musk told the newspaper at the Starbase launch site in Texas ahead of Space X's latest launch on Tuesday.

"Something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it."

Musk blamed entrenched US bureaucracy for DOGE's failure to achieve all of its goals - although reports say his domineering style and lack of familiarity with the currents of Washington politics were also major factors.

"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."

Musk has previously admitted that he did not achieve all his goals with DOGE even though tens of thousands of people were removed from government payrolls and several departments were gutted or shut down.

Musk's own businesses suffered in the meantime.

Protesters against the cost-cutting targeted Tesla dealerships while arsonists even torched a few of the electric vehicles, and the firm's profits slumped.

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

Musk has also been focusing on Space X after a series of fiery setbacks to his dreams of colonising Mars -- the latest of which came on Tuesday when its prototype Starship exploded over the Indian Ocean.

The tycoon last week also said he would pull back from spending his fortune on politics, having spent around a quarter of a billion dollars to support Trump.

Formal departure begins

Musk, whose service as a special government employee was limited to 130 days, is set to begin the formal offboarding process on Wednesday night, according to a White House official.

The process will primarily involve administrative paperwork.

In recent weeks, Musk had already begun stepping back from his role in the administration to refocus on his private ventures, including SpaceX and Tesla.

Both companies have faced challenges, in part due to the political and public backlash stemming from Musk’s association with the Trump administration.

Musk’s exit comes shortly after he voiced strong concerns about President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending cuts package.

In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Musk criticized the bill for its projected impact on the national deficit and its implications for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the agency he led.

“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.”

The legislation, which the president has described as a “big, beautiful bill,” includes trillions of dollars in tax cuts and significant increases in military and national security spending. These increases are largely funded through cuts to federal health, nutrition, and energy programs. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill would add $3.8 trillion to the federal deficit.

President Trump dismissed Musk’s concerns on Wednesday, saying he expects additional revisions as the bill moves through the Senate. He acknowledged that he is “not happy with every part of the bill” and anticipates further negotiations.

House Speaker Mike Johnson also commented on the bill, indicating that Republicans are “eager and ready” to implement spending cuts based on DOGE’s findings once the administration makes a formal request to Congress.

During Musk’s four-month tenure leading DOGE, the agency implemented dramatic changes across the federal government.

Layoffs

At least 121,000 federal workers were laid off or marked for layoffs within Trump’s first 100 days in office, and thousands more accepted buyout offers. Numerous federal grants and programs were eliminated, though some were later restored following legal challenges.

The administration has not provided clear details on the future structure or direction of DOGE following Musk’s departure.

CNN reported on Wednesday that Katie Miller, a senior adviser and spokesperson for DOGE, has also left her position and is now working directly with Musk, according to three individuals familiar with the matter.

Miller did not respond to a request for comment sent to her White House email, which was reportedly still active. A separate White House spokesperson also declined to comment.

As Musk distances himself from the administration, he stated last week that he intends to spend “a lot less” on political contributions moving forward.

However, it remains uncertain whether this signals a shift in his earlier commitment to contribute $100 million to political organisations aligned with President Trump.

To date, Musk has spent over $290 million supporting Trump and GOP congressional candidates.

In addition, Musk-linked groups invested more than $20 million in a recent Wisconsin Supreme Court race, in which his preferred candidate was ultimately defeated.