Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk announced this week that his time as a special government employee leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has come to an end.
“I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Musk said on X late Wednesday. “The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.
Musk’s departure was long expected. Under federal law, “special government employees,” as Musk is designated, are limited to working 130 days during any 365-day period.
Here are some of his most memorable DOGE moments.
Musk highlighted the early days of his mission to slash government spending by showing up at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February in Maryland. He famously wielded a chainsaw on stage.
“We’re, you know, we’re trying to get good things done, but also, like, you know, have a good time doing it and, uh, you know, and have, like, a sense of humor,” Musk said.”
The email from the Office of Personnel Management, sent at Musk’s direction, was called “Fork in the Road” and there is still an official OPM page with that name. The ultimatum message to resign or get with the program followed a similar template Musk has used at his businesses. The email read:
If you choose to remain in your current position, we thank you for your renewed focus on serving the American people to the best of your abilities and look forward to working together as part of an improved federal workforce. At this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency but should your position be eliminated you will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions.
If you choose not to continue in your current role in the federal workforce, we thank you for your service to your country and you will be provided with a dignified, fair departure from the federal government utilizing a deferred resignation program
You can read the full email here.
Musk took to X in February warning ominously about an email that would be going out shortly across the government.
“All federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” he said. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
The full email was a short one and ultimately didn’t mention resignation:
[Subject Line] What did you do last week?
Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager.
Please do not send any classified information, links, or attachments.
Deadline is this Monday at 11:59pmEST.
By the end of Musk’s tenure, the practice was widely panned.
The Institute of Peace was created by an act of Congress in 1984 to promote peace around the world. Peace was anything but promoted during a DOGE standoff in March.
DOGE officials, with police escorting them, took over the building and purged most institute employees. Acting head of the Institute of Peace George Moose said that, “DOGE has broken into our building.
But a federal judge declared the DOGE takeover “null and void” because it is not part of the executive branch.
Musk, joined by his son X, delivered remarks alongside President Donald Trump in the Oval Office in February.
The Independent said X “stole the show,” mimicking his billionaire father and picking his nose. The Independent reported that as Musk answered questions from the press, his son X “ proved to be a distraction by pulling faces, clinging onto his dad’s shoulders and interrupting him.”
After critics took their frustration with Jusk out on Tesla showrooms and cars, Trump briefly turned the White House lawn into a showroom.
Tesla delivered five of its vehicles to the White House and parked them on a driveway for Trump to personally inspect, hours after he said on Truth Social that he planned to buy a Tesla to demonstrate his support for Musk
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