Elon Musk’s tenure as head of the Department of Government Efficiency officially came to an end Friday, May 30, 2025, with a farewell from President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. The send-off marked a courteous conclusion to a period defined by both sweeping policy changes and sharp public debate. Musk now plans to return full-time to his business ventures, including Tesla, SpaceX, and the social media platform X.
Trump praised Musk for what he described as “a colossal change in the old ways of doing business in Washington” and indicated that some of Musk’s team members would remain in their roles within the administration. The billionaire entrepreneur, dressed in all black and wearing a T-shirt that read “The Dogefather,” stood beside the president as he outlined several government contracts that had been terminated during Musk’s time in office.
“I think the DOGE team is doing an incredible job,” Musk said after receiving a ceremonial key from the president. “They’re going to continue to be doing an incredible job.”
Musk’s leadership of the DOGE office led to significant disruption within the federal workforce. Thousands of public employees were dismissed or pressured to resign, and several government functions were severely diminished, including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), a key provider of humanitarian aid worldwide. A report by Boston University researchers estimates that hundreds of thousands of lives may have been lost due to the cuts to USAID.
Despite the dramatic overhaul, Musk ultimately fell short of his own fiscal goals. Initially pledging to slash $1 to $2 trillion in federal spending, he later revised that figure to a target of $150 billion for the current fiscal year. Whether that benchmark was met remains uncertain. While the DOGE website reports $175 billion in savings, its data has been widely criticized for inaccuracies and exaggerations.
Trump lauded Musk’s performance, calling it “the most sweeping and consequential government reform effort in generations.” He also hinted at Musk’s continued involvement, saying the entrepreneur is “really not leaving” and “he’s going to be back and forth” to stay engaged with developments in the administration.
During the farewell, Musk appeared with a visible bruise near his right eye, which he attributed to playful roughhousing with his son.
“I said, go ahead, punch me in the face,” he said. “And he did.”
Musk, currently the world’s richest individual, has recently stated he intends to scale back his political contributions. He was the largest donor to Trump’s most recent presidential campaign. Trump appeared eager to cast Musk’s departure in a positive light, writing on social media Thursday night:
“This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way. Elon is terrific!”
Although his government role was technically designed to be temporary, Musk had previously mused about staying on in a part-time capacity if Trump wished to retain his input. He has remained vague about the future of DOGE without his leadership, even going so far as to say the initiative might gather more steam in his absence. “DOGE is a way of life,” he recently told reporters. “Like Buddhism.”
