Well, it’s official: Elon Musk is out of politics—at least for the time being.
In a farewell post on X (yes, his own site), Musk announced that his stint as a Special Government Employee in the Trump administration is over. That role put him in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency—tongue-in-cheek renamed DOGE, no less. And no, not the meme coin this time.
“As my stint as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I’d like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for allowing me the honor of simplifying wasteful expenditures,” Musk tweeted, his trademark tip of the hat to government efficiency.
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The mission that was DOG
Musk was brought in to trim down the budget from Washington. His first vow? Trim $2 trillion from the federal budget. But year by year, that figure dwindled… first to $1 trillion, then to $150 billion. But it wasn’t all hot air: around 260,000 federal workers either lost their jobs or took redundancy packages. That’s a pretty radical shake-up of the 2.3 million-strong civilian government payroll.
And still, the mission wasn’t glitch-free. Some of the firings were stayed by federal judges; others, like laying off workers in the nuclear program by mistake, left people bewildered.
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Budget battles and billionaire disagreements
Although Musk’s resignation had been expected, together with his government position came a limitation of 130 days a year—it just so happened to have come one day after he publicly criticized Trump’s latest budget bill.
In an enlightening CBS interview, Musk described the plan as “big and beautiful” but labeled it “disappointing.”
“I believe a bill can be big or a bill can be beautiful,” he said. “But I don’t think it can be both.”
He argued that the bill would swell the national deficit and, even worse, gut the very government efficiency push he was leading.
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DOGE blame game
It was when Musk spoke with the Washington Post that DOGE had become “the whipping boy for everything.”
Wherever things went wrong—anywhere on the planet—it seemed that DOGE got the blame, even if it was in no way involved. During the internal strife, staff disobedience, and political blowback, Musk decided it was time to quit and go back to what he’s most at ease doing: rockets and electric cars.
Back to Tesla (and Damage Control)
While all this government theater was going on, Tesla was taking it on the chin. Sales fell 13%—the biggest decline in company history. The stock price fell nearly 45%, and though it did recover some, it’s still down about 10%.
Much of the fury resulted from Musk’s political allegiance, with protests, boycotts, and even property destruction happening at Tesla showrooms. It got so out of hand that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi stated that such attacks would be regarded as “domestic terrorism.”
So, Musk is going official: he’s back at Tesla full-time. Addressing an economic forum in Qatar, he promised to drive the company for at least the next five years.
What’s next?
With nearly $300 million already spent on supporting Trump and Republican candidates, Musk says he’s curbing political donations, too.
That is, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is in his element once more—and Washington will have to find another billionaire to ruffle its feathers.
