Elon Musk Makes His Exit, but He and President Trump Promise That DOGE Will Live On

Since President Donald Trump's announcement of a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) at a November 2024 rally in Texas, to the formation of the DOGE caucus in December 2024, to the January 20 Executive Order establishing the department, SpaceX and Tesla CEO, and X-owner Elon Musk has been the face and the target of the gargantuan work to rein in government waste, fraud and abuse and use the taxpayer's dollars for the actual work of governance. Musk was a temporary part of the Trump cabinet as a special government appointee for 130 days. Now those days are coming to a close, so Trump and Musk held a press conference on Friday to congratulate and thank Musk for his work and project how DOGE will continue to operate without Musk at the helm.

President Trump started the press conference with Musk standing by his side, but chose to begin with the economic numbers announced Friday morning. "The numbers have just come out, which are rather extraordinary, I think," Trump opined. He then played the broadcast on CNBC of Joe Kernan and Rick Santelli announcing the income numbers and what an extraordinary accomplishment it was to see positive economic changes this soon in an administration, particularly in the area of cutting tariffs in half in such a short amount of time

But Trump quickly moved into the main event. His praise of Musk was effusive. 

But Elon's service to America has been without comparison in modern history. He's already been running the most innovative car company in the world. You look at his factories and compare them with some of the old factories that we have, and it's a big difference. And the most successful space company in, I guess history, you would have to say. The largest free speech platform on the internet. 

Trump further said of Musk, 

He willingly accepted the outrageous abuse and slander and lies and attacks because he does love our country, I know that very much. He loves our country. He comes from another country, a country that's going through trials and tribulations I would say. But he's all about the U.S.A. and American owes him a great debt of gratitude.

Trump also affirmed that just because Musk's special government employee role was finished, that does not mean Musk or the DOGE team are going away.

Many of the DOGE people are staying behind too, so they're not leaving. Elon's really not leaving, he's going to be back and forth, I have a feeling. It's his baby and I think he's going to be doing a lot of things. [...]

Elon gave an incredible service, nobody like him. And he had to go through the slings and the arrows, which is a shame, because he's an incredible patriot.

Trump presented Musk with a "very special" box he said goes to, "very special people." The box doubled as a plaque with Trump's signature on the front, and it held a golden key within.

Musk then gave brief remarks. 

This is an honor. I love this, it's amazing. 

This is not the end of DOGE but really the beginning. My time as a special government employee necessarily had to end, it was limited time thing, a 134-days I believe, which ends in a few days. So, so that comes with a time limit. But the DOGE team will only grow stronger over time. The DOGE influence will grow stronger.

Musk likened DOGE to Buddhism.

It's like a way of life. So, it is permeating throughout the government. And I'm confident that over time we will see a trillion dollars of savings, and a trillion dollars of waste and fraud reduction. [...]

So, I think the DOGE team is doing an incredible job. They're going to continue doing an incredible job. And I'll continue to be visiting here and be a friend and an advisor to the president and I look forward to times being back in this amazing room.

As RedState reported, Musk announced his departure from DOGE on Wednesday, but intimated that, at President Trump's discretion, he would consult when needed. 

As my colleague Sister Toldjah reported:

"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," Musk posted Wednesday on his social media platform. "The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government."

Though Musk had previously confirmed in late April that he would be stepping back "significantly" from his DOGE responsibilities soon to focus on other projects, he didn't rule out spending "a day or two per week on government matters for as long as the President would like me to do so." Trump officials have asserted that Musk will still serve in an advisory capacity to the POTUS for the foreseeable future.

As if on cue, the TDS and EDS-riddled Left and legacy media tried to embed the narrative that DOGE had failed and that Elon Musk and Trump were on the outs. This presser fully debunked this narrative. As Trump affirmed: 

We are totally committed to making the DOGE cuts permanent and stopping much more of the waste in the months to come. We want to get our great, big, beautiful bill finished and done. After that we're going to be, we put some of this into the bill, but most of it is going to come later. We're going to have it cauterized by Congress, affirmed by Congress.

And DOGE staffers remain in every government agency, and the work continues. Thus far, under Musk's direction, DOGE has 175 BILLION dollars, and that is a savings of $1,086.96 per taxpayer.

Some MAGA and conservative voices on social media have raised a hue and cry because DOGE cuts have not been included in the Budget Resolution. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller took to X to explain why the Big Beautiful Bill cannot be the avenue where this is done.

DOGE cuts are to discretionary spending. (Eg the federal bureaucracy). Under senate budget rules, you cannot cut discretionary spending (only mandatory) in a reconciliation bill. 

So DOGE cuts would have to be done through what is known as a rescissions package or an appropriations bill. 

The Big Beautiful Bill is NOT an annual budget bill and does not fund the departments of government. It does not finance our agencies or federal programs. Instead, it includes the single largest welfare reform in American history. Along with the largest tax cut and reform in American history. The most aggressive energy exploration in American history. And the strongest border bill in American history. All while reducing the deficit.

These same loud and influential social media commenters are claiming that Congress will ignore or abandon the work that Musk and DOGE have done. Speaker Johnson laid out Congress' plans to implement the DOGE cuts and recommendations.

@ElonMusk and the entire @DOGE team have done INCREDIBLE work exposing waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal government - from the insanity of USAID’s spending to finding over 12 million people on Social Security who were over 120 years old.  

The House is eager and ready to act on DOGE’s findings so we can deliver even more cuts to big government that President Trump wants and the American people demand.  

We will do that in two ways: 
1. When the White House sends its rescissions package to the House, we will act quickly by passing legislation to codify the cuts. 
2. The House will use the appropriations process to swiftly implement President Trump’s 2026 budget. 

In the meantime, we have been working around the clock as we prepared for those processes. The House made sure to build on DOGE’s success within the One Big Beautiful Bill. 

@StephenM has made an important point about the two efforts: DOGE found savings in discretionary spending (such as funding agencies), while our One Big Beautiful Bill secured over $1.6 trillion in savings in mandatory spending (such as Medicaid). Both are HISTORIC and take HUGE steps toward addressing our debt and deficit.

Editor’s Note: Elon Musk and DOGE have brought much-needed accountability to our out-of-control bureaucracy and taken a chainsaw to rampant waste, fraud, and abuse.

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