Billionaire Elon Musk announced his resignation from his US government role focused on reducing federal spending. This decision follows a public disagreement with President Donald Trump over the president’s signature spending bill.

In a post on X, Musk thanked President Trump for the opportunity but cited his disapproval of the bill, stating that it would increase the national deficit and undermine the efforts of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

In an interview with CBS News, Musk elaborated on his concerns, saying, “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.” He also criticized the bill’s potential negative impact on healthcare. He added his personal opinion that “A bill can be big, or it can be beautiful. But I don’t know if it can be both.”

The White House downplayed the disagreement, emphasizing that Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act” is not an annual budget bill and that any cuts to the federal bureaucracy would require a separate bill.

Musk’s public criticism marks a rare break with President Trump, whom he heavily supported financially in the 2024 election. Musk had previously complained that DOGE, despite significant staff reductions and departmental closures, had become a scapegoat for broader dissatisfaction with the administration. He attributed some of DOGE’s shortcomings to entrenched bureaucracy and his own unfamiliarity with Washington politics.

He also noted that his own companies, Tesla and SpaceX, suffered setbacks during his tenure with DOGE, including protests targeting Tesla dealerships and even arson attacks on Tesla vehicles. Musk recently announced he would scale back his political spending after having donated around a quarter of a billion dollars to support Trump’s campaign. This resignation comes shortly after a SpaceX Starship prototype exploded during a test flight.