Elon Musk has officially announced his departure as the head of the White House's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a role he undertook as a Special Government Employee. His tenure was legally limited to a maximum of 130 days, which concluded on May 30. Musk confirmed his exit via an X post on May 29, expressing gratitude to President Donald Trump for the opportunity to "reduce wasteful spending." A White House official indicated that Musk's "off-boarding" would commence that night.

Reflecting on his time at DOGE, Musk described the effort to cut federal jobs and programs as an "uphill battle," stating to The Washington Post that the "federal bureaucracy situation is much worse" than he had anticipated. He also criticized a multi-trillion-dollar tax break package approved by House Republicans, claiming it would increase the budget deficit and undermine DOGE's work. The Department of Government Efficiency, whimsically named after the cryptocurrency Dogecoin, claimed to have saved taxpayers $175 billion since President Trump’s Jan. 20 return to the White House. However, this figure has been heavily disputed by multiple news outlets, which reported it as overstated and containing multiple errors and inaccuracies. This claimed saving represents only 8.5% of Musk's initial ambition to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget, an amount he later revised down to $150 billion. Despite these challenges and criticisms, DOGE is reported to have reduced the federal workforce by nearly 12%, or approximately 260,000 employees, through layoffs, buyouts, and early retirement offers. Musk expressed on X that DOGE’s mission will “only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”

Musk's involvement with DOGE has not been without controversy. A federal judge recently allowed a lawsuit to proceed, filed by 14 states, accusing Musk and DOGE of illegally exerting power over government operations. The allegations include unlawfully accessing government data systems, terminating federal employees, and canceling contracts at federal agencies.

In a separate interview, Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla, admitted to spending "a bit too much time" in politics, which some critics suggest has negatively impacted Tesla's performance. He clarified that his time on DOGE wasn't as significant as perceived and attributed the perception to media coverage. Following Musk's announcement in Tesla's first-quarter report that his time on DOGE would significantly decrease in May, Tesla (TSLA) shares saw an over 5% rise in after-hours trading, despite the company reporting an 80% drop in net income. As of March 31, Tesla continued to hold 11,509 Bitcoin (BTC), valued at approximately $1.24 billion at the time. Year to date, Tesla shares remain down by 5.9%, a trend shared by other major tech firms like Apple, Nvidia, Amazon, and Google, which were also reported to be in the red in 2025.

Musk's departure from DOGE triggered immediate reactions in financial markets, particularly within the cryptocurrency sphere due to his well-known influence on meme coins like Dogecoin. On the evening of May 28, 2025, following his announcement, Dogecoin (DOGE/USD) experienced a sharp price drop of 4.7%, falling from $0.145 to $0.138 within an hour. Trading volume for DOGE/USD spiked by 38% on major exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase. By 11:00 PM EST on May 28, 2025, DOGE/USD had dipped further to $0.135, with sell-side volume outpacing buy-side volume by 22% on Binance. Dogecoin's Relative Strength Index (RSI) on the 1-hour chart dropped to 42 by midnight EST on May 29, 2025, indicating potentially oversold conditions. The 24-hour trading volume for DOGE surged to $1.2 billion, a 40% increase from the previous day.

Tesla (TSLA) stock also exhibited after-hours volatility, declining 2.1% to $412.50 by 10:00 PM EST on May 28, 2025. This underscores Musk’s dual impact on both stock and crypto markets. The correlation coefficient between Tesla stock and Dogecoin over the past month was reported at 0.65. In a related development, short interest for TSLA futures saw an 8% rise on the morning of May 29, 2025, hinting at bearish sentiment. Meanwhile, other meme coins like Shiba Inu (SHIB/USD) saw a slight uptick of 1.8% to $0.0000175 during the same timeframe, potentially absorbing some attention from Dogecoin. Bitcoin (BTC/USD) sell orders on Coinbase increased by 15% between 9:30 PM and 11:30 PM EST on May 28, and Bitcoin held support at $67,500, with on-chain data from Glassnode showing a 3% rise in wallet outflows. Traders are closely watching key levels, including DOGE’s $0.130 support and BTC’s $68,000 resistance as of 6:00 AM EST on May 29, 2025.