Elon Musk says goodbye as he formally departs DOGE

Elon Musk thanked President Trump late Wednesday as he officially stepped down from his temporary gig leading the budget-slashing Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

“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 world’s richest

man posted on his social media site, X.

“The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”

Musk’s 130-day mandate as a special government employee in the Trump administration was already set to expire around May 30.

His “off-boarding” started Wednesday night, a White House official said.

The exact circumstances surrounding his exit weren’t immediately clear but the announcement came soon after the Tesla mogul publicly came out against the White House’s “Big, Beautiful Bill”

— calling it too expensive and a measure that would undermine his DOGE work.

Trump officials, meanwhile, have insisted that Musk will still stick around as an adviser even though his time is officially up.

Musk has also been adamant that DOGE would continue even after his time was up — once confidently comparing his role in the cost-cutting department to the Buddha.

“Is Buddha needed for Buddhism?” the billionaire said earlier this month when asked who would be next to lead the department.

“DOGE is kind of a way of life … we make converts all the time,” he added.

Musk — who was once Trump’s right-hand man — was the driving force behind DOGE in the first months of the administration, stirring public opinion over his initiatives to gut whole agencies

and look for wasteful spending.