By CHRIS MEGERIAN and KEVIN FREKING, Related Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk is leaving his authorities position as a high adviser to President Donald Trump after spearheading efforts to scale back and overhaul the federal paperwork.
The billionaire entrepreneur posted Wednesday about his choice on X, his social media web site.
A White Home official, who requested anonymity to speak concerning the change, confirmed that Musk was leaving.
Musk’s departure comes someday after he criticized the centerpiece of Trump’s legislative agenda, saying he was “disappointed” by what the president calls his “big beautiful bill.”
The laws contains a mixture of tax cuts and enhanced immigration enforcement. Whereas talking to CBS, Musk described it as a “massive spending bill” that will increase the federal deficit and “undermines the work” of his Division of Authorities Effectivity, often known as DOGE.
“I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful,” Musk mentioned. “But I don’t know if it could be both.”
His CBS interview got here out Tuesday night time. Trump, talking within the Oval Workplace on Wednesday, defended his agenda by speaking concerning the delicate politics concerned with negotiating the laws.
“I’m not happy about certain aspects of it, but I’m thrilled by other aspects of it,” he mentioned.
Trump additionally recommended that extra modifications could possibly be made.
“We’re going to see what happens,” he mentioned. “It’s got a way to go.”
Republicans lately pushed the measure by way of the Home and are debating it within the Senate.
Musk’s issues are shared by some Republican lawmakers. “I sympathize with Elon being discouraged,” mentioned Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson.
Talking at a Milwaukee Press Membership occasion on Wednesday, Johnson added that he was “pretty confident” there was sufficient opposition “to slow this process down until the president, our leadership, gets serious” about decreasing spending. He mentioned there was no quantity of stress Trump may placed on him to alter his place.
Speaker Mike Johnson has requested senators to make as few modifications to the laws as potential, saying that Home Republicans reached a “very delicate balance” that could possibly be upended with main modifications. The narrowly divided Home must vote once more on ultimate passage as soon as the Senate alters the invoice.
On Wednesday, Johnson thanked Musk for his work and promised to pursue extra spending cuts sooner or later, saying “the House is eager and ready to act on DOGE’s findings.”
The White Home is sending some proposed rescissions, a mechanism used to cancel beforehand licensed spending, to Capitol Hill to solidify a few of DOGE’s cuts. A spokesperson for the Workplace of Administration and Price range mentioned the package deal will embody $1.1 billion from the Company of Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS, and $8.3 billion in international help.
Musk’s criticism come as he steps again from his authorities work, rededicating himself to corporations like the electrical automaker Tesla and rocket producer SpaceX. He’s additionally mentioned he’ll scale back his political spending, as a result of “I think I’ve done enough.”
At instances, he’s appeared chastened by his expertise working in authorities. Though he hoped that DOGE would generate $1 trillion in spending cuts, he’s fallen far wanting that focus on.
“The federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realized,” he advised The Washington Submit. “I thought there were problems, but it sure is an uphill battle trying to improve things in D.C., to say the least.”
Musk had beforehand been energized by the chance to reshape Washington. He wore marketing campaign hats within the White Home, held his personal marketing campaign rallies, and talked about extreme spending as an existential disaster. He usually tended to be effusive in his reward of Trump.
“The more I’ve gotten to know President Trump, the more I like the guy,” Musk mentioned in February. “Frankly, I love him.”
Trump repaid the favor, describing Musk as “a truly great American.” When Tesla confronted declining gross sales, he turned the White Home driveway into a makeshift showroom as an example his assist.
It’s unclear what, if any, influence that Musk’s feedback concerning the invoice would have on the legislative debate. In the course of the transition interval, he helped whip up opposition to a spending measure because the nation stood on the point of a federal authorities shutdown.
“The Senate version will be more aggressive,” Lee mentioned. “It can, it must, and it will be. Or it won’t pass.”
Solely two Republicans — Reps. Warren Davidson of Ohio and Thomas Massie of Kentucky — voted in opposition to the invoice when the Home took up the measure final week.
Davidson took notice of Musk’s feedback on social media.
“Hopefully, the Senate will succeed with the Big Beautiful Bill where the House missed the moment,” he wrote. “Don’t hope someone else will cut deficits someday, know it has been done this Congress.”
The Congressional Price range Workplace, in a preliminary estimate, mentioned the tax provisions would improve federal deficits by $3.8 trillion over the last decade, whereas the modifications to Medicaid, meals stamps and different providers would cut back spending by barely greater than $1 trillion over the identical interval.
Home Republican leaders say elevated financial development would enable the invoice to be deficit-neutral or deficit-reducing, however outdoors watchdogs are skeptical. The Committee for a Accountable Federal Price range estimates the invoice would add $3 trillion to the debt, together with curiosity, over the following decade.
Related Press writers Scott Bauer in Milwaukee and Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.
Initially Revealed: Might 28, 2025 at 10:09 AM EDT
