(TJV NEWS) Billionaire Elon Musk is set to leave his role in the Trump administration in the coming months, President Donald Trump informed Cabinet members last week, according to NBC News.
A senior government official told NBC that Musk, whose DOGE team has been leading a controversial federal spending reduction initiative, will step down at the end of a 130-day tenure as a special government employee (SGE). That designation limits an individual’s work to 130 days per year, and with Musk having started on January 20, his term will conclude by the end of May.
Earlier on Wednesday, Politico reported that Musk, also the CEO of Tesla, would soon be exiting his government role. Tesla shares saw an uptick following the publication of that report. However, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back on those claims, calling them “garbage” in a tweet.
“Elon Musk and President Trump have both publicly stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete,” Leavitt wrote.
Trump also addressed the situation on Monday, telling reporters, “I think he’s been amazing, but I also think he’s got a big company to run … And at some point, he’s going to be going back. He wants to.”
“I’d keep him as long as I could keep him,” Trump added.
Despite the reports of his imminent departure, Musk himself suggested otherwise in a March 10 interview with Fox Business. When host Larry Kudlow asked if he planned to continue in the role for another year, Musk responded, “Yeah, I think so.”
Musk was the largest financial backer of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
