As Elon Musk signaled his exit from the Department of Government Efficiency on Wednesday night, the Tesla CEO’s announcement was met with hat tips from MAGA while Musk’s critics deemed his DOGE tenure a failure.

“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 tweeted.

“The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”

Musk, the richest person in the world, is considered a special government employee, a designation that means he could only work for the White House for 130 days. That time expires on Friday.

The Tesla CEO had lofty ambitions for DOGE. He initially proposed cutting $2 trillion from the federal budget before revising that figure to $150 billion.

Musk claimed to have cut $160 billion, but DOGE was found to have overstated its impact while the effort actually cost the government $135 billion in lost productivity and rehiring workers, according to CBS News.

Several Trump cabinet members praised Musk’s work with DOGE, which will reportedly continue despite the Tesla CEO’s absence.

“America and all of @Interior are incredibly grateful for @elonmusk‘s work to make government more efficient and work for the American people,“ tweeted Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

”His unwavering service and dedication has cut waste, fraud, and abuse across our federal government and will continue to serve our taxpayers for generations to come. Thank you for your service, Elon!”

Added Energy Secretary Chris Wright: “Thank you @elonmusk for helping make @ENERGY more efficient and effective than ever before! We need to be good stewards of American taxpayers hard earned money and @DOGE is instrumental in helping make that happen!”

Kara Swisher, a tech journalist and longtime Musk observer, said the Tesla CEO “was probably frustrated by the pace of government.

“When he goes back to his companies, he says, ‘jump,’ and they say, ‘how high,’” Swisher told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.

“The government — they don’t do that. And I think he found more difficulty in finding real cuts … pretty much his effort was a failure.”

One of Musk’s critics was skeptical that the special employee designation is the real reason why Musk is bidding adieu to DOGE.

Norm Eisen, an ethics official in the Barack Obama White House, credited lawsuits challenging DOGE’s authority and access to government information with Musk’s exit.

“The litigation held him accountable, & for that & other reasons he became politically unpopular & a liability He lost. Democracy won. Only one round of the fight but a biggie!” Eisen posted on the social media platform Bluesky.

George Conway, a Republican critic of the Trump administration, agreed while calling Musk a “ketamine-infused crackpot.”

“The 130-day limit just happened to be the one law @elonmusk decided to comply with? Nonsense,” Conway tweeted.

“The ketamine-infused crackpot had his ass handed to him by the courts and by public opinion and—most deliciously—by his own jackassery. LMAO and good riddance.”