Controversial Exit: Musk’s Painful Experience with Dogecoin (DOGE) Revealed

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has officially left the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a controversial cost-cutting initiative launched by the White House during President Donald Trump’s administration, according to available reports.

Musk’s resignation was announced on May 29 on X (original Twitter) and reported by Reuters. His 130-day term as a special government employee expires on May 30.

In the post, Musk thanked the president for the opportunity to reduce waste. In an interview with The Washington Post, Musk said:

“I had expected the federal bureaucracy to be much worse than I thought. Trying to improve things in Washington has been an uphill battle, to say the least.”

Legal Challenges and Growing Criticism

Elon Musk’s exit comes at a time of growing legal and public pressure. A federal judge recently approved a lawsuit filed by 14 U.S. state attorneys general, accusing Musk and DOGE of illegally controlling federal operations. The lawsuit accuses Musk and DOGE of unauthorized access to federal data systems, firing federal employees, and canceling contracts.

A White House official told Reuters that Musk's "departure will begin tonight," meaning the government is complying with legal requirements.

The announcement of Tesla's exit from Dogecoin (DOGE) in its first-quarter earnings report prompted Tesla's stock price to surge 5% in after-hours trading, even though the company's net profit fell 80% year-on-year. As of March 31, Tesla still held 11,509 bitcoins, currently worth about $1.24 billion, and the company is continuing to bet on digital assets.

But Tesla is still down 5.9% year to date, in line with the stock prices of Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA), Amazon (AMZN) and Google (GOOG). Analysts believe that Musk's focus on Dogecoin may be one of the reasons for the slowdown in Tesla's stock price, but the company's problems may also be related to market conditions and supply chain issues.