Elon Musk said he is leaving the Trump administration, attributing his departure not to any disagreement with Trump but rather to the legal limit on the number of days a special government employee may serve each year.
“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 wrote on X. “The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”
Musk’s “off-boarding will begin tonight,” a White House official told Reuters on Wednesday. Under US law, special government employees in the executive branch are limited to serving 130 days in a 365-day period. They are subject to more lenient ethics rules than other federal employees and officials.