(Image source from: Twitter.com/elonmusk)
Billionaire Elon Musk, known for his ventures in space and technology, declared that his tenure as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has concluded. He expressed gratitude to the President of the United States for the chance to tackle excessive spending. Musk emphasized that the objectives of DOGE would evolve into a standard practice within the government over time. His announcement came the day after he publicly criticized Trump for the first time, stating that the President's prominent spending bill, which he described as “big” and “beautiful,” actually expands the budget deficit and undermines the efforts of the DOGE team. "A bill can either be large or appealing, but I question whether it can embody both qualities,” Musk remarked.
Vowing to be a significant supporter of Trump's 2024 campaign, Musk participated actively in his early appearances and remained a loyal ally throughout Trump's presidency. In his victory address, Trump praised Musk, declaring, “A star is born.” As the DOGE initiative took off aggressively, Musk sought “high-IQ small-government revolutionaries” who were ready to dedicate over 80 hours a week to unexciting tasks aimed at budget cuts. This led to the removal of tens of thousands of employees from government payrolls, alongside the closing or downsizing of various departments, despite conflicts with other senior officials in Trump’s administration.
By the end of April, however, Musk began to scale back his involvement after stating in interviews that DOGE had become a “whipping boy” for frustrations with the administration. He also recognized that he hadn't accomplished all his intended goals with DOGE. Moreover, a U.S. District judge has mandated that Musk confront a lawsuit concerning the misuse of power during his leadership of DOGE, amid multiple lawsuits aimed at restricting his and DOGE's access to agency records and systems that hold extensive financial and personal information about Americans.
His attention has also shifted back to his businesses, facing challenges like arson at Tesla dealerships and decreasing share prices, as well as setbacks for SpaceX due to mission failures. Most recently, on Wednesday, the Starship exploded over the Indian Ocean during its ninth test flight. Additionally, Musk commented on the two-hour outage of the social media platform X, stating, “As highlighted by the X uptime issues earlier this week, there is a significant need for operational enhancements.”
