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eau de doge....

Tech billionaire Elon Musk, head of the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has announced that he will no longer serve as a government employee. The statement comes amid reports of a growing rift between Musk and President Donald Trump.

Trump established DOGE to identify and eliminate wasteful spending as part of his effort to make the federal government more responsive to everyday Americans. Musk’s organization, which is not a federal agency in the traditional sense, has overseen the elimination of grants and programs, as well as the termination of government jobs. Trump has also used DOGE to dismantle the Department of Education and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President Trump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Musk wrote on his X platform on Wednesday evening.

The DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government,” he added. According to the New York Times, special government employees are appointed to “perform important, but limited, services to the government, with or without compensation, for a period not to exceed 130 days.”

An unnamed White House official confirmed to Reuters on Wednesday that Musk is leaving the administration and that his “off-boarding will begin tonight.”

Musk recently voiced disappointment over Trump’s tax and spending bill, which he said would increase the deficit and undermine DOGE’s mission. He also said last week that he would like to wind down his involvement in politics because he has “done enough.”

Trump defended the bill passed by the House last week, though he admitted on Wednesday that he was “not happy about certain aspects.”

According to DOGE’s website, the task force has helped save an estimated $175 billion in taxpayer funds. Democrats have criticized the initiative, and courts have blocked some of its actions.

https://www.rt.com/news/618291-musk-leavinmg-trump-admin/

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

leaving-ish....

Elon Musk's time in the Trump administration has come to an end with a news conference in the Oval Office in which he and the US president defended the work of Doge - and vowed it would continue, even without Musk. 

According to President Trump, Musk is "not really leaving" and will continue to be "back and forth" to the White House. 

"It's his baby," Trump said of Musk's work with Doge, short for the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency.

Musk's departure comes 130 days after Trump returned to office, the maximum allowable through his status as a "special government employee". 

Doge - which is an advisory body, rather than a formal government department - has the stated aim of slashing government spending, saving taxpayer money and reducing the US national debt, which stands at $36tn (£28.9tn).

Musk's work with Doge, however, has come with considerable controversy, particularly after mass lay-offs across federal agencies and the elimination of most programmes run by USAID, the main US foreign aid organisation. 

It also led to Musk's companies coming under scrutiny, with global protests against Tesla and calls for boycotts. In turn, the company saw sales plummet to their lowest level in years. 

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump praised Musk, who he credited with "tirelessly helping lead the most sweeping and consequential government reform programme in generations". 

Trump added that the "mindsets" of federal officials have changed as a result of Doge's work to detect fraud and "slash waste". 

According to Doge's website, it had saved the US government a total of $175bn as of 29 May. 

A BBC analysis conducted in late April, however, found that only $61.5bn of that amount was itemised, and evidence of how the savings were achieved was available about $32.5bn of the total.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4ger3gxdjro

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.