Elon Musk's time as a special government employee has officially come to an end, a White House official tells NBC News. The billionaire, who had recently pledged to pay more attention to the actual companies he runs, started offboarding from his role in the Trump administration Wednesday—the day after he publicly split with President Trump over the president's so-called "big, beautiful bill." Special government employees are typically allowed to work up to 130 days in a calendar year, and Musk had been in his role with the Department of Government Efficiency for more than 114. The White House has not yet publicly commented on his departure.
Musk did address his exit on X, thanking Trump "for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending" and saying the "DOGE mission" would "only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government," but the New York Times reports that Musk had gone from calling himself Trump's "first buddy" to seeming "disillusioned" and "distanced" from the president. In addition to his complaint about the spending bill, which he claimed would make the national deficit worse, he's also recently complained about a deal for an AI data center in the Middle East that went to a rival company. White House officials, however, insist Musk and Trump remain on good terms.
In an interview with the Washington Post on Tuesday, Musk complained about how hard he found it to get things done in Washington, DC, (DOGE famously has not saved the federal government anywhere near the promised trillions) and claimed the department became a "whipping boy," getting blamed for anything that went wrong in the federal government.
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As for Trump, he responded to Musk's criticism of the spending bill by defending it and insisting it accomplishes a few of his top priorities, but adding, "My reaction's a lot of things. No. 1, we have to get a lot of votes. We can't be cutting a—you know—we need to get a lot of support, and we have a lot of support. We had to get it through the House." (More Elon Musk stories.)
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