Elon Musk Officially Steps Down, Issues Statement

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The rockstar lightning rod known as Elon Musk has decided it’s time.

He’s officially stepping down from his position as head of DOGE and returning to his role as CEO of his various companies.

Neither Musk nor President Trump gave any hints that the Tesla and Space X CEO’s time at the head of the waste cutting department would extend beyond the allowed 130 days as a ‘special government employee’.

We are currently sitting at day 128 at the time of this report.

Given that DOGE was officially made to be part of the federal government under the Executive Branch, Musk is also exiting the Trump Administration as he steps down.

The billionaire made the decision public on his X platform with a simple post just a short time ago:

Jesse Watters broke the story during his prime time show on Fox News.

Journalist Charlies Hurt was on at the time and gave some commentary, noting with mostly good humor that the one thing a billionaire like Elon might not be able to fully conquer… would be the federal government.

Here’s that clip of Jesse Watters breaking the news:

President Trump has often bragged on Elon’s intelligence and patriotism in sacrificing his time and focus away from his own companies for the good of the nation.

In March the President said that he’d keep Elon on as long as possible, but recognized the need to eventually return to his own private sector pursuits, according to a Fox News report:

Elon Musk is beginning the process of stepping down from his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO posted on X on Wednesday night that his time as a special government employee is coming to an end and thanked President Donald Trump for the opportunity to cut down on wasteful spending.

Musk has been the public face of DOGE since Trump signed an executive order establishing the office on Jan. 20. DOGE has since ripped through federal government agencies in a quest to identify and end government overspending, corruption and fraud.

Musk and Trump have both previously previewed that Musk’s role was temporary and would end in the spring.

“You, technically, are a special government employee and you’re supposed to be 130 days,” Fox News’ Bret Baier asked Musk during an exclusive interview with Musk and DOGE team members in April. “Are you going to continue past that or do you think that’s what you’re going to do?”

“I think we will have accomplished most of the work required to reduce the deficit by a trillion dollars within that timeframe,” Musk responded.

Trump hinted at Musk’s departure in comments to reporters on March 31 when he was asked if he wants Musk to remain in a government role for longer than the predetermined 130 days.

“I think he’s amazing. But I also think he’s got a big company to run,” Trump said in March. “And so at some point he’s going to be going back.”

“I’d keep him as long as I can keep him,” Trump said. “He’s a very talented guy. You know, I love very smart people. He’s very smart. And he’s done a good job,” the president added. “DOGE is, we’ve found numbers that nobody can even believe.”

As expected, social media started to flood with both praise and vitriolic attacks.

But for the most part, the outpouring was positive.

The consensus among most centered around the sacrifice he made for the nation that has become his home:

Elon’s presence in Washington has become an iconic image of the practical convergence of governance and private industry.

For some, that iconic image proves the danger — as the mainstream media has stoked the fears of those already seeded with distrust of those who have successfully made their fortunes in business and entrepreneurs.

For others, Elon’s presence proves the convergence of strong governmental leadership and American individualism free from coercion is not only plausible, but beneficial to both.

Tomorrow (or maybe overnight…) the questions will start to swirl.

I want to get ahead of that now and report that in all likelihood, the 130-day limit for Elon’s volunteer ’employment’ with the Trump Administration probably coincided with the ‘honeymoon’ period between President Trump and the billionaire.

I don’t mean to say they had a falling out; far from it.

But it does seem from Elon’s own words that the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ was a little too “BIG” to be considered “BEAUTIFUL”… by someone whose sole focus for 128+ days has been CUTTING the deficit — not growing it.

I know, I know — that “dynamic accounting” means it’s not as bad as it sounds.

And if it doesn’t pass — LARGEST TAX HIKE IN HISTORY.

I know.  I get it.

But from Elon Musk’s laser-focused perspective of CUTTING PORK… that ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ is a lot more like a BUTT-ROAST than a leaner piece of prime rib.

So while I don’t think President Trump or Elon will have anything but good words for each other from here on out, I do think that 130-day limit may have come just at the right time to maintain that friendship.

Musk actually spoke out about the President’s landmark legislation just a few days ago, according to Newsweek:

Billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to social media Wednesday night with a message to thank President Donald Trump for his White House tenure, noting that his “scheduled time” has come “to an end.”

In the past week, Musk has been outspoken about key legislative priorities for the president, like energy policy and the “big, beautiful bill” that seeks to fulfill Trump’s key campaign promises which recently passed the House of Representatives.

Musk spoke out against the bill in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, saying he was “disappointed” in the measure because it could balloon the federal deficit and “undermines” the work DOGE has done.

“I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful. But I don’t know if it could be both, my personal opinion.” Musk added.

Ultimately, the work of DOGE can’t end — not yet.

Elon or no Elon… the work of changing Washington’s mindset and setting limits on how far the federal government is allowed to go with America’s money stuffed in their pockets still needs to be addressed.

A lot of that work will now be up to Congress, in solidifying the cuts and changes DOGE made by legislating.

But those DOGE teams are going to be needed for some time, rooting out the remaining recesses of corruption and waste.

It probably won’t be the same without Elon at the helm.

But I wouldn’t be surprised to see him making visits now and again to the Oval Office to run something by the President.

Who knows?

Nothing in the law says you can’t hire on as a “special government employee’ more than once…



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