Elon Musk stops working at DOGE

Elon Musk has officially announced his departure from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — a temporary federal body established by the Trump administration to combat excessive spending. In his May 29 post, he thanked President Donald Trump “for the opportunity to cut wasteful spending” and acknowledged that “it was a tough battle.”

By law, Musk’s status as a special government employee limited his participation to 130 days, which end on May 30.

In comments to CBS, he criticized the recently passed multi-trillion-dollar tax package, stating that it undermines DOGE’s efforts by increasing the budget deficit.

DOGE’s performance results

According to official data from the administration, DOGE has saved taxpayers $175 billion since Trump’s return to the White House on January 20. However, many media outlets question these figures, citing inaccuracies, lack of transparent methodology, and inflated results.

Musk’s initiative initially aimed to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget, though that target was later lowered to $150 billion. According to Reuters, DOGE has reduced approximately 12% of the federal workforce — about 260,000 positions out of 2.3 million — through layoffs, buyout packages, and early retirements.