Elon Musk logs out of DOGE with $160 billion savings and $135 billion setbacks, says Grok
Elon Musk has stepped down from his role as a Special Government Employee under the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The announcement, made on his platform X, followed weeks of tension over President Trump's controversial spending bill. Musk thanked Trump for the opportunity but said it was time to move on. Grok, Musk's own AI assistant, weighed in with a mixed report card on his DOGE legacy. Public reactions ranged from praise to sharp criticism, reflecting deep divisions over Musk's government stint.
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
Grok AI gives its take
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
Musk vs. Trump on the 'big beautiful bill'
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
Internet reactions: Applause, sarcasm and dissent
Elon Musk has announced that he is stepping down from his role as a Special Government Employee in the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a task force he helped shape earlier this year. Musk, who had taken on the role for a limited term under US law, confirmed the decision on X, the social media platform he owns.'As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,' Musk posted on Wednesday. He added, 'The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.'But while Musk logged off from Washington, Grok—the AI chatbot built by his company xAI—logged in with its own recap of Musk's time in government.Prompted by an X user to summarise Musk's performance at DOGE, Grok responded with a detailed list of what it called accomplishments and consequences.'As a Special Government Employee, Elon Musk led the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), claiming $160 billion in savings by terminating wasteful contracts, like $255 million from 269 contracts, and modernising IT systems, such as digitising the OPM retirement process,' Grok stated.It went on, 'DOGE also cleaned Social Security records and supported voter integrity measures. However, these efforts face criticism for potential costs of $135 billion in lost productivity, legal challenges, and service disruptions. Concerns about Musk's business conflicts and political motivations persist, with public opinion divided, as 54% view him unfavourably.'In its trademark tone, Grok concluded, 'The true impact of DOGE remains debated amid ongoing scrutiny.'Musk's exit was not entirely without tension. His departure follows public criticism of President Trump's controversial 'big beautiful bill,' a sprawling piece of legislation that includes major tax breaks and expanded defence spending.Speaking to CBS, Musk said: 'I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful. But I don't know if it could be both.' He described the legislation as a 'massive spending bill' that increases the federal deficit and 'undermines the work' of DOGE.President Trump, when asked about Musk's critique, offered a measured reply. 'Number one, we have to get a lot of votes... I'm not happy about certain aspects of it, but I'm thrilled by other aspects of it. We're going to see what happens,' Trump said.The bill has passed the House and is currently under debate in the Senate. House Speaker Mike Johnson has cautioned senators against making significant changes, describing the outcome as a 'very delicate balance'.The internet did not hold back. Supporters praised Musk's short tenure, while critics accused him of causing more damage than good. One user wrote, 'I honestly don't know if we could've saved America if @ElonMusk hadn't spent $40 billion to buy Twitter and rescue free speech.' That same user added, 'He absolutely deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom.'Others were far less generous. One user asked, 'What was achieved other than Elon breaking things and leaving them broken?' Another replied, 'This has damaged your brand beyond anything you can imagine.' A third comment simply read, 'DOGE has been a failed endeavour. Whether it's family, business or public, it's hard to cut the money strings after you have started them.'Elon Musk was appointed as a Special Government Employee shortly after Donald Trump returned to the White House in January. The designation, which allows service for up to 130 days per year, was due to expire in late May. His assignment was clear: streamline government operations and eliminate waste.Throughout his term, Musk championed aggressive cost-cutting and digitisation efforts. However, critics have flagged risks—legal, operational and political. Musk also never formally met with Trump before announcing his departure, according to sources familiar with internal discussions.Meanwhile, Grok—launched by Musk's xAI in November 2023—has become a notable voice on X. Built on a large language model with a flair for humour, Grok can access platform content in real time, providing users with commentary, summaries and occasionally, sarcasm. It's the chatbot's growing cultural presence that made its post-DOGE analysis all the more resonant.Musk's exit from public service marks a shift back to his private ventures, but his role in shaping political discourse seems far from over. The DOGE mission, at least by his account, is meant to persist. Whether it becomes 'a way of life' in government or a cautionary tale remains to be seen.For now, Musk has logged out. But Grok, and the debate, remain very much online.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
27 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Trump-backed tax bill aims to undo Obama and Biden policy milestones
Chiseling away at President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. Rolling back the green energy tax breaks from President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act. At its core, the Republican big, beautiful bill is more than just an extension of tax breaks approved during President Donald Trump's first term at the White House. The package is an attempt by Republicans to undo, little by little, the signature domestic achievements of the past two Democratic presidents. We're going to do what we said we were going to do, Speaker Mike Johnson said after House passage last month. While the aim of the sprawling 1,000-page plus bill is to preserve an estimated USD 4.5 trillion in tax cuts that would otherwise expire at year's end if Congress fails to act and add some new ones, including no taxes on tips the spending cuts pointed at the Democratic-led programmes are causing the most political turmoil. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said this week that 10.9 million fewer people would have health insurance under the GOP bill, including 1.4 million immigrants in the US without legal status who are in state-funded programs. At the same time, lawmakers are being hounded by businesses in states across the nation who rely on the green energy tax breaks for their projects. As the package moves from the House to the Senate, the simmering unrest over curbing the Obama and Biden policies shows just how politically difficult it can be to slash government programmes once they become part of civic life. "When he asked me, what do you think the prospects are for passage in the Senate? I said, good if we don't cut Medicaid," said Sen Josh Hawley, R-Mo, recounting his conversation last week with Trump. And he said, I'm 100 per cent supportive of that. Health care worries Not a single Republican in Congress voted for the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, in 2010, or Biden's inflation act in 2022. Both were approved using the same budget reconciliation process now being employed by Republicans to steamroll Trump's bill past the opposition. Even still, sizable coalitions of GOP lawmakers are forming to protect aspects of both of those programs as they ripple into the lives of millions of Americans. Hawley, Sen Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and others are wary of changes to Medicaid and other provisions in the bill that would result in fewer people being able to access health care programs. At the same time, crossover groupings of House and Senate Republicans have launched an aggressive campaign to preserve, at least for some time, the green energy tax breaks that business interests in their states are relying on to develop solar, wind and other types of energy production. Murkowski said one area she's "worried about is the House bill's provision that any project not under construction within 60 days of the bill becoming law may no longer be eligible for those credits. These are some of the things we're working on, she said. The concerns are running in sometimes opposite directions and complicating the work of GOP leaders who have almost no votes to spare in the House and Senate as they try to hoist the package over Democratic opposition and onto the president's desk by the Fourth of July. While some Republicans are working to preserve the programs from cuts, the budget hawks want steeper reductions to stem the nation's debt load. The CBO said the package would add $2.4 trillion to deficits over the decade. After a robust private meeting with Trump at the White House this week, Republican senators said they were working to keep the bill on track as they amend it for their own priorities. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the president made the pitch and the argument for why we need to get the bill done." The disconnect is reminiscent of Trump's first term, when Republicans promised to repeal and replace Obamacare, only to see their effort collapse in dramatic fashion when the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, voted thumbs down for the bill on the House floor. Battle over Medicaid In the 15 years since Obamacare became law, access to health care has grown substantially. Some 80 million people are now enrolled in Medicaid, and the Kaiser Family Foundation reports 41 states have opted to expand their coverage. The Affordable Care Act expanded Medicaid to all adults with incomes up to about USD 21,500 for an individual, or almost USD 29,000 for a two-person household. While Republicans no longer campaign on ending Obamacare, advocates warn that the changes proposed in the big bill will trim back at access to health care. The bill proposes new 80 hours of monthly work or community service requirements for able-bodied Medicaid recipients, age 18 to 64, with some exceptions. It also imposes twice-a-year eligibility verification checks and other changes. Republicans argue that they want to right-size Medicaid to root out waste, fraud and abuse and ensure it's there for those who need it most, often citing women and children. Medicaid was built to be a temporary safety net for people who genuinely need it young, pregnant women, single mothers, the disabled, the elderly, Johnson told The Associated Press. But when when they expanded under Obamacare, it not only thwarted the purpose of the program, it started draining resources. Initially, the House bill proposed starting the work requirements in January 2029, as Trump's term in the White House would be coming to a close. But conservatives from the House Freedom Caucus negotiated for a quicker start date, in December 2026, to start the spending reductions sooner. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has said the changes are an Obamacare rollback by another name. It decimates our health care system, decimates our clean energy system, Schumer of New York said in an interview with the AP. The green energy tax breaks involve not only those used by buyers of electric vehicles, like Elon Musk's Tesla line, but also the production and investment tax credits for developers of renewables and other energy sources. The House bill had initially proposed a phaseout of those credits over the next several years. But again the conservative Freedom Caucus engineered the faster wind-down within 60 days of the bill's passage. Not a single Republican voted for the Green New Scam subsidies, wrote Sen Mike Lee, R-Utah, on social media. Not a single Republican should vote to keep them.
Time of India
40 minutes ago
- Time of India
The 911 presidency: Trump flexes emergency powers in his second term
Call it the 911 presidency. Despite insisting that the United States is rebounding from calamity under his watch, President Donald Trump is harnessing emergency powers unlike any of his predecessors. Whether it's leveling punishing tariffs, deploying troops to the border or sidelining environmental regulations, Trump has relied on rules and laws intended only for use in extraordinary circumstances like war and invasion. An analysis by The Associated Press shows that 30 of Trump's 150 executive orders have cited some kind of emergency power or authority, a rate that far outpaces his recent predecessors. The result is a redefinition of how presidents can wield power. Instead of responding to an unforeseen crisis, Trump is using emergency powers to supplant Congress ' authority and advance his agenda. "What's notable about Trump is the enormous scale and extent, which is greater than under any modern president," said Ilya Somin, who is representing five U.S. businesses who sued the administration, claiming they were harmed by Trump's so-called "Liberation Day" tariffs. Live Events Because Congress has the power to set trade policy under the Constitution, the businesses convinced a federal trade court that Trump overstepped his authority by claiming an economic emergency to impose the tariffs. An appeals court has paused that ruling while the judges review it. Growing concerns over actions The legal battle is a reminder of the potential risks of Trump's strategy. Judges traditionally have given presidents wide latitude to exercise emergency powers that were created by Congress. However, there's growing concern that Trump is pressing the limits when the U.S. is not facing the kinds of threats such actions are meant to address. "The temptation is clear," said Elizabeth Goitein, senior director of the Brennan Center's Liberty and National Security Program and an expert in emergency powers. "What's remarkable is how little abuse there was before, but we're in a different era now." Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., who has drafted legislation that would allow Congress to reassert tariff authority, said he believed the courts would ultimately rule against Trump in his efforts to single-handedly shape trade policy. "It's the Constitution. James Madison wrote it that way, and it was very explicit," Bacon said of Congress' power over trade. "And I get the emergency powers, but I think it's being abused. When you're trying to do tariff policy for 80 countries, that's policy, not emergency action." The White House pushed back on such concerns, saying Trump is justified in aggressively using his authority. "President Trump is rightfully enlisting his emergency powers to quickly rectify four years of failure and fix the many catastrophes he inherited from Joe Biden - wide open borders, wars in Ukraine and Gaza, radical climate regulations, historic inflation, and economic and national security threats posed by trade deficits," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. Trump frequently cites 1977 law to justify actions Of all the emergency powers, Trump has most frequently cited the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, to justify slapping tariffs on imports. The law, enacted in 1977, was intended to limit some of the expansive authority that had been granted to the presidency decades earlier. It is only supposed to be used when the country faces "an unusual and extraordinary threat" from abroad "to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States." In analyzing executive orders issued since 2001, the AP found that Trump has invoked the law 21 times in presidential orders and memoranda. President George W. Bush, grappling with the aftermath of the most devastating terror attack on U.S. soil, invoked the law just 14 times in his first term. Likewise, Barack Obama invoked the act only 21 times during his first term, when the U.S. economy faced the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. The Trump administration has also deployed an 18th century law, the Alien Enemies Act, to justify deporting Venezuelan migrants to other countries, including El Salvador. Trump's decision to invoke the law relies on allegations that the Venezuelan government coordinates with the Tren de Aragua gang, but intelligence officials did not reach that conclusion. Congress has ceded its power to the presidency Congress has granted emergency powers to the presidency over the years, acknowledging that the executive branch can act more swiftly than lawmakers if there is a crisis. There are 150 legal powers - including waiving a wide variety of actions that Congress has broadly prohibited - that can only be accessed after declaring an emergency. In an emergency, for example, an administration can suspend environmental regulations, approve new drugs or therapeutics, take over the transportation system, or even override bans on testing biological or chemical weapons on human subjects, according to a list compiled by the Brennan Center for Justice. Democrats and Republicans have pushed the boundaries over the years. For example, in an attempt to cancel federal student loan debt, Joe Biden used a post-Sept. 11 law that empowered education secretaries to reduce or eliminate such obligations during a national emergency. The U.S. Supreme Court eventually rejected his effort, forcing Biden to find different avenues to chip away at his goals. Before that, Bush pursued warrantless domestic wiretapping and Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the detention of Japanese-Americans on the West Coast in camps for the duration of World War II. Trump, in his first term, sparked a major fight with Capitol Hill when he issued a national emergency to compel construction of a border wall. Though Congress voted to nullify his emergency declaration, lawmakers could not muster up enough Republican support to overcome Trump's eventual veto. "Presidents are using these emergency powers not to respond quickly to unanticipated challenges," said John Yoo , who as a Justice Department official under George W. Bush helped expand the use of presidential authorities. "Presidents are using it to step into a political gap because Congress chooses not to act." Trump, Yoo said, "has just elevated it to another level." Trump's allies support his moves Conservative legal allies of the president also said Trump's actions are justified, and Vice President JD Vance predicted the administration would prevail in the court fight over tariff policy. "We believe - and we're right - that we are in an emergency," Vance said last week in an interview with Newsmax . "You have seen foreign governments, sometimes our adversaries, threaten the American people with the loss of critical supplies," Vance said. "I'm not talking about toys, plastic toys. I'm talking about pharmaceutical ingredients. I'm talking about the critical pieces of the manufacturing supply chain." Vance continued, "These governments are threatening to cut us off from that stuff, that is by definition, a national emergency." Republican and Democratic lawmakers have tried to rein in a president's emergency powers. Two years ago, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House and Senate introduced legislation that would have ended a presidentially-declared emergency after 30 days unless Congress votes to keep it in place. It failed to advance. Similar legislation hasn't been introduced since Trump's return to office. Right now, it effectively works in the reverse, with Congress required to vote to end an emergency. "He has proved to be so lawless and reckless in so many ways. Congress has a responsibility to make sure there's oversight and safeguards," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who cosponsored an emergency powers reform bill in the previous session of Congress. He argued that, historically, leaders relying on emergency declarations has been a "path toward autocracy and suppression." Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
Time of India
41 minutes ago
- Time of India
‘Massive deal struck': Trump says Xi gave green light to restart rare earth mineral exports to US
In a rare high-stakes phone conversation on June 5, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the ongoing trade standoff and reached what Trump called a 'very productive' agreement on the flow of rare earth materials. Trump confirmed to reporters at the White House that Xi agreed to restart shipments of these critical minerals. Show more Show less
