Tim Walz's Savage Response To Elon Musk Leaving Trump Administration Is Sure To Sting

After a vigorous attempt to slash government spending, Donald Trump's billionaire BFF, Elon Musk, is stepping away from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to narrow his focus on his businesses, including SpaceX, Tesla, and xAI. In the wake of the announcement, one politician — to no one's surprise — is celebrating. "Finally rooting out waste and abuse," Minnesota Governor Tim Walz wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Walz has been a perpetual adversary of the X Corp. owner, cracking jokes at Musk's expense anytime he has an attentive audience.

Musk's departure from the administration is not surprising, as his time as a special government employee, a government position with a tenure of only 130 days, is up. "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 X Wednesday. "The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government."

At the same time, Tesla investors are calling on the board to require Musk, the CEO, to work 40 hours per week at the company. Walz has even pointed his Musk attacks toward Tesla, telling a town hall audience in April that he often watches the electric vehicle business' stock drop to "give me a little boost during the day." Walz isn't alone; even celebrities have ditched their Teslas to stick it to Musk and Trump. 

One day before he said a farewell to the White House, Elon Musk all but admitted his bromance with Donald Trump is over after criticizing the president's "One, Big, Beautiful Bill," which promises trillions in tax relief. "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," Musk told CBS News on Tuesday. "I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don't know if it can be both."

The administration is peddling the idea that Trump's sweeping tariffs will be a key source of revenue to offset the cost of the bill. Tim Walz hasn't been shy about his opposition to the Republican leader's trade policies. "You almost have to be an amateur psychologist" to understand Trump's reasoning for the tariffs, Walz told MSNBC's Chris Hayes in April. Who would have thought Musk and Walz would ever have a mutual resistance to Trump's policies?