Billionaire Elon Musk is stepping down from his role as chief adviser to President Donald Trump, ending his stint in government after leading efforts to reform the federal bureaucracy, Associated Press reports.
The announcement came Wednesday evening, marking the conclusion of a turbulent chapter during which Musk led the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Under his leadership, thousands of federal employees were laid off, several agencies were shut down, and the reform agenda sparked numerous legal battles. However, Musk ultimately fell short of his initial goals: his proposed federal spending cuts were scaled back from $2 trillion to $1 trillion, and then to just $150 billion.
Musk increasingly voiced frustration with resistance within the administration and clashed with senior officials who opposed his aggressive approach to reform. From the outset, Musk had framed his role in the administration as temporary, and in recent weeks he indicated he would soon return full-time to running his companies, including Tesla and SpaceX.
Although the White House had long avoided giving a clear timeline for Musk’s departure, he unexpectedly announced his resignation in a post on the X platform:
As my scheduled time serving as a special government employee comes to an end, I want to thank President Trump for the opportunity to help reduce wasteful spending. The DOGE mission will only grow stronger over time as it becomes a way of life for the entire government.
