Elon Musk has officially announced his departure as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a cost-cutting task force within the Trump administration. Musk declared that his "scheduled time" serving as a Special Government Employee has concluded, expressing gratitude for the opportunity to address government waste.
On his social media platform X, Musk stated, "As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President Donald Trump 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."
Shortly after Musk's announcement, X's AI assistant, Grok, provided a summary of Musk's tenure at DOGE in response to user requests. Grok highlighted that while Musk claimed approximately $160 billion in savings by terminating unproductive contracts and modernizing certain government IT services, the overall impact is contested.
The AI noted that some efforts included eliminating $255 million from 269 contracts and digitizing the Office of Personnel Management's retirement process. It also mentioned initiatives to clean Social Security records and support voter integrity measures.
However, Grok emphasized criticisms facing DOGE's actions, citing potential losses of $135 billion due to decreased productivity, ongoing legal challenges, and disruptions to essential public services. Furthermore, issues related to Musk's business interests and political motivations continued to fuel public skepticism, with reports indicating 54% of the public holds an unfavorable view of Musk's involvement.
Further analysis suggested that although DOGE claimed significant savings, the federal deficit increased to $1.9 trillion in 2025—up 23% from the previous year—partly offsetting the gains. The AI also pointed out inconsistencies, such as an $8 million contract mistakenly reported as $8 billion, which undermined the overall impact of the cost-cutting effort.
Musk's exit closely followed his public criticism of President Trump's recently passed "big, beautiful" spending bill, which he argued would exacerbate the budget deficit and counteract DOGE's fiscal discipline measures. Musk remarked, "A bill can be big, or it can be beautiful. But I don't know if it can be both. My personal opinion."
In response, former President Trump acknowledged the complexity of passing the legislation, stating, "Number one, we have to get a lot of votes... I'm not happy about certain aspects of it, but I'm thrilled by other aspects of it. We're going to see what happens."
The mixed results from Musk's tenure at DOGE continue to provoke debate regarding the effectiveness of such government efficiency initiatives and their broader impact on federal finances.
