Billionaire Elon Musk on Thursday announced he was quitting as a special government employee of the United States Department of Government Efficiency under the Donald Trump administration.

“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President Donald Trump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Musk said on social media.

He added that the department’s mission would “only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government”.

The Department of Government Efficiency was created through an executive order by Trump on his first day in office on January 20. It aimed to “modernise federal technology and software to maximise governmental efficiency and productivity”.

It is not an official government department, which can only be established by an act of Congress. Instead, the department was seen as an advisory body. Its mandate is due to expire on July 4, 2026.

The department was run by Musk. While the billionaire had initially said that he would perform his role as an outside volunteer, the White House later confirmed that he would operate as an unpaid special government employee, which covers those working for no more than 130 days in a year.

His 130-day mandate as a special government employee in the Trump administration was set to expire around May 30, Reuters reported.

On Thursday, Reuters quoted an unidentified White House official as saying that Musk’s “off-boarding will begin tonight”. Another unidentified official was quoted as saying that the billionaire did not have a formal conversation with Trump before announcing his exit, and that the departure was decided “at a senior staff level”.

The reasons for his exit were not immediately clear.

On Wednesday, Musk had criticised a tax bill formulated by Trump, calling it expensive and a measure that would undermine his work at the Department of Government Efficiency, according to Reuters.

Musk, who is also the chief executive officer of automobile manufacturer Tesla, had on April 22 indicated that he would significantly scale back his government work to focus on his businesses.

The Department of Government Efficiency has cut about 12%, or 260,000, of the 2.3 million federal civilian workforce, a majority of them through threats of firings, buyouts and early retirement offers, Reuters reported.

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