Tech billionaire Elon Musk surprisingly leaves his post in the Trump government for many. As head of the authority for government efficiency, or Doge for short, he caused massive personnel cuts, but his “service time” has now ended.
Surprising retreat from Washington?
Elon Musk announced his farewell from the Trump government. The tech billionaire announced the end of his work as a “Special Government Employee” on his platform X and thanked President Trump for the opportunity to reduce public expenses.
The White House confirmed the step already initiated. Musk’s retreat surprises many observers and leads to various speculations. The Guardian reports that the departure was not completely voluntary. There is a 130-day regulation for consultants. How Musk has been for the government so far, but in particular insiders had expected Musk to continue after the 130 days. That is not the case now.
Massive administrative reforms
Under Musk’s management of the “Department of Government Efficiency” (Doge), around 260,000 jobs in the public service were dismantled – around twelve percent of the federal officials. This was primarily due to threats to dismissal, severance payments and premature retirement offers. The 52-year-old entrepreneur has headed the authority since February 2025 with the promise to eliminate wasteful expenses.
His radical approach led to considerable savings, but also to massive criticism of unions and administrative experts. Now he also says that this task is greater than expected and he that also underestimated. In the past few weeks, Musk has already stepped down gradually to devote himself to his companies such as X, SpaceX and Tesla that suffered from his close government connection.
Doge: Musk’s government advice under Trump
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2024 summer 2024 First discussions between Musk and Trump on a “Commission for Government Efficiency”
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2024 August 2024 Trump signals willingness to give Musk a consultant role. Musk publicly confirms his willingness
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2024 November 12, 2024 Trump officially announces that Musk and Ramaswamy will lead Doge. Comparison with Manhattan project
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2025 January 20, 2025 Trump, the second term, executive order to found Doge. Musk begins as a special consultant
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2025 February 2025 Musk participates in the first cabinet meeting, announces massive savings
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2025 February 2025 Musk publicly defends itself against criticism and accusations of an “enemy attempt to take over the government”
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2025 spring 2025 Musk indicates that he has already saved $ 150 billion (numbers controversial)
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2025 April 2025 Musk announces his commitment to Doge to reduce greatly from May in order to devote more Tesla again
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2025 May 2025 Criticism and legal concerns about the use of Musks Grok-Ai in authorities
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2025 May 29, 2025 Musk officially announces the end of his work for Doge
Criticism of the tax package
Musk’s public criticism of Trump’s tax package seems to be an essential retreat. He described the planned tax reliefs for large companies as “unbalanced” and advocated relieving the middle class.
Central facts about Musk’s role at Doge
- Doge stands for Department of Government Efficiency
- Was founded by Executive Order of Trump on January 20, 2025
- Goal: radical reduction in government spending and personnel, closure of authorities, digitization and use of AI
- Doge is not an official government agency, but an advisory task force
- Musk was the central figure and public face of Doge
The authority will continue its work, even if Musk’s successor is still completely unclear. Several economic advisors from Trump’s environment are now traded as possible candidates.