Billionaire Elon Musk has finally called time on his tenure in the Donald Trump administration as he announced he is leaving his controversial role.
Following Trump’s inauguration into office for his second term as president, Musk, one of his loudest fans and a financial backer, was given an unprecedented role in the administration as head of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (also known as DOGE).
Established with one of Trump’s much-used executive orders, the department was set up with the alleged objective to maximise productivity and efficiency and reduce government spending.
This resulted in the controversial mass firing of federal workers and estimates that the department actually cost the taxpayer more money than it saved.
In a post on X/Twitter, Musk revealed his temporary time as a “special government employee” will now end.
Musk wrote: “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.”
Tim Walz posted about the latest development, writing: "finally rooting out waste and abuse."
Another argued: “Elon Musk leaving the White House feels like the end of a group project where the dude who did literally nothing says ‘we crushed it’.”
The announcement came not long after an interview with Sky News in which his own father, Errol Musk, said his son is “not a very good politician”.
According to Reuters, Musk’s departure was decided upon “at a senior staff level” and did not involve the 53-year-old having a conversation with Trump before his announcement he was leaving.
Musk recently told The Washington Post: “The federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realised. I thought there were problems, but it sure is an uphill battle trying to improve things in DC to say the least.”
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