Musk entered politics with grand ambitions of slashing federal spending and chipping away at the $36 trillion in national debt.
But after months of serving Trump as a loyal supporter and close adviser, Musk has grown increasingly critical of the president's fiscal policies as his own efforts fall short.
The tech billionaire announced his departure Wednesday shortly after voicing concerns about a sweeping tax and spending bill backed by Trump and congressional Republicans, which is expected to add trillions of dollars to the national debt.
"He's running into the realities that we've been trying to cut government for decades and trying to cut spending, and it's been incredibly difficult," Republican strategist Chris Johnson told The Hill.
"I think Musk leaving is probably due to that frustration, just the reality of running into the same problem that conservatives have been running into for 30 years, where without big, bold acts of Congress … there's really limited stuff that you're going to be able to cut."
"And ultimately, there's just not an appetite for those kind of cuts apparently in the House right now."
Musk began Trump's second term with big plans to cut up to $2 trillion from the federal budget, an attempt to begin paying down a record-shattering national debt he pinned on leaders in both parties.
As the head of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) panel, Musk led a crusade to dramatically cut the size of the federal government and its spending.
But as DOGE hit several well-worn roadblocks to serious debt reduction, the cost-cutting team claimed to identify $160 billion in potential spending cuts, some of which must be approved by Congress.
A source close to the White House suggested that Musk "tried to make a good faith effort" but ran into the limitations of the government.
"Here's a guy who can put rockets on moon … and somehow he ran into government," they said. "Just the mechanization of government, and for him, I think, that was very confounding and difficult."
However, he has continued to stand by his DOGE work. He lamented in a Washington Post interview Tuesday that the cost-cutting effort had become "the whipping boy for everything."
Check out at full report at TheHill.com tomorrow.
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