Elon Musk has formally announced his retirement from the post of senior advisor to US President Donald Trump. Along with this, his scheduled tenure as a special government employee in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has also ended.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, was appointed to restructure the federal bureaucracy and reduce unnecessary government expenditure. In his message on social media platform X on Wednesday, Musk wrote, “My scheduled term as a special government employee is coming to an end, and I would like to thank President Donald Trump for the opportunity to contribute to efforts to reduce government expenditure. The DOGE mission will be even stronger in the times to come.”
It is noteworthy that Musk’s announcement came a day after public criticism of Trump’s major legislative agenda. In an interview with CBS, Musk expressed dissatisfaction with Trump’s proposed “Big Beautiful Bill”, which includes provisions for extensive tax cuts as well as strict immigration control.
Musk called the bill “a giant spending bill” and said it contradicts his department’s objectives. “It increases the federal deficit and undermines DOGE’s efforts,” he explained. Taking a dig at the bill’s naming, Musk said, “I believe a bill can either be huge or beautiful, but I doubt it can be both at the same time.”
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, President Trump defended the bill, acknowledging that there had been challenges in its creation. He said, “I am dissatisfied with some aspects of it, but I am excited about other aspects. We will see what happens next, because there is still a long way to go in the legislative process.”