Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Jeff Bottari
Topics: Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Politics
Joe Yates
Elon Musk has announced he is stepping down from his post in politics after sharing his ‘disappointment’ in the Trump administration.
The world’s richest man was working under a distinct role in the US government as a ‘special government employee’ - which allows him to work for up to 130 days in the office each year, before his official exit on May 28.
So while his departure was expected, the Tesla owner has resigned three days earlier - and just a day after publicly criticizing President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’.
Speaking to CBS in a preview clip that aired on Tuesday (May 27), Musk said: "I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill frankly, which increases the budget deficit not just decrease it, and undermines the work that the Doge team is doing.
Advert
"I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful... but I don't know if it could be both, my personal opinion."
The BBC has reported that following his criticism, the White House was working to 'offboard' Musk yesterday and he's now added further comment on his platform X.
The billionaire posted: "As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending.
"The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government."
The POTUS has been tight lipped on the matter so far, but he did send a cryptic message on Truth Social.
Posting a meme to his account, it pictured Trump walking in the middle of a darkened street at night, captioned: “He’s on a mission from God & nothing can stop what is coming.”
Despite not being voted in by the public, Musk has been heading up the new government division alongside former Republican presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
His mission was to streamline the US government through plans to axe thousands of jobs and drastically reduce the wage bill, and once he had finished his mission, he had vowed to disband the department - setting a completion date of no later than July 4, 2026... Independence Day next year.
As Trump put it, his primary objective is to 'dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies'.
The initiative has already engaged in mass layoffs across the country, overseen the removal of diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) programs, and it's made sizeable cuts to the Department of Education.
The spending bill includes an increased in defense spending, including Trump's ambition to implement a 'Golden Dome' above the US which would protect it from enemy missiles, as well as multi-trillion dollar tax breaks.
Having just squeezed through the House of Representatives, it will now go to the senate.
It is believed that the new legislation could could increase government spending by around $600 billion in the next fiscal year - which the SpaceX owner believes 'undermines' his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency.