Elon Musk’s tenure as a special government employee and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is coming to an end after a high profile and occasionally tumultuous stint.
Musk was a near-constant presence in President Trump’s orbit during his time in government, building a close relationship with the president while chafing at some other administration officials. Musk appeared frequently with his young son, X, in the Oval Office, on Air Force One and at Cabinet meetings.
He is expected to still be an outside adviser to the president, though he will dedicate more of his time to running Tesla and SpaceX.
Here are five memorable moments from Musk’s time in the administration.
H-1B visas fight
Musk’s first major imprint on government policy came before Trump even took office.
The Tesla CEO, an immigrant himself, found himself at the center of a debate among Trump supporters over the H-1B visa — a temporary, nonimmigrant work permit.
Musk was among the most outspoken H-1B defenders, arguing that the visa program allowed U.S. companies to hire workers they need when they can’t find sufficient numbers within the country.
Musk clashed with the likes of Steve Bannon, a former top White House aide in Trump’s first term, and Laura Loomer, a far-right activist and staunch Trump supporter, who argued the program took jobs away from Americans.While Musk’s standing in Trump world was not impacted by his spat with Bannon, Loomer and others, it underscored a fight that is in some ways still playing out as the Trump White House implements its immigration agenda, which includes stripping foreign student visas.
CPAC chainsaw
Musk burst onto the scene at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) roughly one month into his time leading DOGE and efforts to slash government spending with a fitting prop.
Dressed in a black “Make America Great Again” hat, sunglasses and a chain, Musk walked on stage and was joined shortly after by Argentine President Javier Milei, who gave him a black chainsaw that the DOGE leader held up as the crowd cheered.
When Musk held the chainsaw up, he screamed, “This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy.”
The striking image was both a metaphor for how Musk was slashing the size and scope of government, sometimes with little regard for unintended consequences, and a symbol of the outsized and unorthodox personality of the Tesla CEO.
That was also on display when Musk made a gesture at Trump's inauguration that critics likened to a Nazi salute. Musk said the gesture was being misinterpreted and responded with a slew of puns that included references to Nazi Germany.
DOGE targeted billions in government contracts in a matter of months and pushed to dismantle entire agencies, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Institute of Peace.
Clashes with Cabinet secretaries
If CPAC was Musk’s first ostentatious display of influence outside the White House, his presence at a Feb. 26 Cabinet meeting was the first clear indication of his strong influence inside the White House.
Musk was the dominant figure at the gathering of Trump’s Cabinet officials, offering a number of sharp comments toward the federal workforce while standing and taking questions from the press.
It was impossible to tell how much some of the Cabinet members agreed or disagreed with Musk’s comments through their facial expressions and body language as they looked on.
“Is anyone unhappy with Elon? If you are, we’ll throw them out of here,” Trump quipped at one point.
But the aside masked lingering tensions between Musk and other Cabinet officials.
The Tesla CEO clashed at a separate closed-door Cabinet meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy over DOGE’s efforts to slash the government workforce.
Musk also reportedly got into a heated confrontation with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in the West Wing, and he publicly sparred with top trade adviser Peter Navarro on social media.
“These are obviously two individuals who have very different views on trade and tariffs. Boys will be boys, and we will let their public sparring continue,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters of the Musk-Navarro disagreement. “You guys should all be very grateful that we have the most transparent administration in history.”
Musk and son X join Trump in Oval Office
Shortly after dominating the first Cabinet meeting he attended, Musk was back to take the spotlight during an Oval Office meeting alongside Trump.
The Feb. 11 meeting marked the first time Musk faced questions from the White House press corps about DOGE’s work and the backlash it had received over the sweeping job reductions and funding cuts he was overseeing.
“The people voted for major government reform and that’s what the people are going to get,” Musk said in response to pushback his work at DOGE has received. “That’s what democracy is all about.”
Musk faced scrutiny throughout his time in government for pushing unsubstantiated or misleading information about certain government spending, for overstating savings, or for DOGE slashing government programs that funded things like Ebola prevention.
“Some of the things that I say will be incorrect and should be corrected,” Musk said in the Oval. “So, nobody is going to bat a thousand. We will make mistakes and we’ll act quickly to correct any mistakes.”
Tesla show at White House
One looming question throughout Musk’s government service was how he and the White House were dealing with potential conflicts of interest given Musk’s extensive government contracts and business interests.
Trump, Musk and administration officials routinely brushed aside those questions, arguing Musk would simply not be involved in anything that involved his companies. That issue raised its head when Trump pushed back on reports that Musk would receive a briefing on potential war plans with China.
But Trump embraced Musk’s businesses regularly in recent months, no more so than when he purchased a Tesla on the South Lawn of the White House.
“I’m going to buy, because number one, it’s a great product. As good as it gets. Number two, because this man has devoted his energy and his life to doing this, and I think he has been treated unfairly,” Trump told reporters on March 11 as he lined up Tesla vehicles along the driveway and inspected them.
Trump’s show of support came as Tesla stock had plummeted and some vehicles and dealerships had been vandalized in protest of Musk’s work with the administration.
The Tesla display at the White House drew backlash from critics who saw it as a particularly egregious example of Trump promoting a business.“ Just because the corruption plays out in public doesn’t mean it’s not corruption,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) posted on X at the time.
Foray into Wisconsin Supreme Court race
Musk’s biggest foray into political spending since the 2024 election came when he spent millions on a hotly contested Wisconsin State Supreme Court race to back the Republican candidate.
Musk’s America PAC spent $12 million to support conservative Brad Schimel against liberal Susan Crawford in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race in April.
Musk also traveled to Wisconsin the Sunday before the election, where he handed out $1 million checks to voters who had signed his petition against “activist judges.”
Democrats seized on Musk’s involvement, seeking to make the controversial business leader central to their messaging in the closing days of the race. Crawford was victorious and retained the court’s liberal majority. Musk’s heavy involvement in the race marked something of a turning point, as Republicans started to fret that the Tesla CEO could be politically toxic. Musk himself indicated he planned to dial back his political spending.
'Big, beautiful bill' criticism
In the days before officially leaving his government role, Musk made a splash with some pointed criticism of the White House’s signature piece of legislation after it passed the House.
"I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing," Musk told CBS News' "Sunday Morning."
His comments came days after the House, after days of negotiations among members, passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which contains key provisions on tax policy, border funding and other key White House agenda items. It must still pass the Senate before heading to Trump’s desk.
"I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful," Musk told CBS News. “But I don't know if it can be both.”
Trump was asked about Musk’s concerns on Wednesday at the White House, and while he acknowledged the bill was not perfect, he did not mention the Tesla CEO by name.
“"We have to get a lot of votes,” Trump said, acknowledging the political realities. “I'm not happy about certain aspects of it, but I'm thrilled by other aspects of it.”
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