When tech billionaire Elon Musk joined the Trump administration in January to help lead the newly established Department of Government Efficiency, it was acknowledged from the start by Musk and others that his work in that regard would only be temporary.

The end of the line has come for Musk, who announced on Wednesday that he'd soon be leaving the White House as his "scheduled time" with the administration draws to a close, Breitbart reported.

Some critics and haters have tried to suggest that Musk's impending departure, along with his criticism of aspects of President Donald Trump's policy agenda bill that is working its way through Congress, as evidence of a rift between the tech innovator and the president, but Musk's role as a "special government employee" was always intended to be for a limited duration.

Musk to end his work with the administration

In a Wednesday evening X post, Musk wrote, "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."

"The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government," he added.

Breitbart noted that there was an outpouring of gratitude and support for Musk on social media for his personal sacrifice and the work that he had done in leading the effort to root out and eliminate egregious examples of waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending, including from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.

In response to Musk's announcement, Miller posted, "The work DOGE has done to eliminate government waste and corruption -- the rot embedded deep within Washington -- is among the most valuable services ever rendered to government. And the work has only just begun."

Musk still on "good terms" with Trump, but is "disillusioned" and "frustrated" by D.C.

Musk's exit from the Trump White House has prompted some to claim it is evidence of some sort of falling out between him and the president he helped get re-elected last year and has been close to ever since, but that isn't actually the case.

According to The New York Times, Musk "remains on good terms" with President Trump, though he has become "disillusioned" and "frustrated" with the realities of Washington D.C. and the myriad "obstacles" he faced within the entrenched bureaucracy.

And, though he is proud of what he and DOGE were able to accomplish over the past several months, Musk has reportedly "lamented the reputational damage" he and his multiple tech companies have suffered because of the leftist opposition to his governmental work.

Musk's disillusionment and frustrations were evident in a recent interview in which he criticized the lack of spending cuts in the Trump agenda bill being worked on by Congress, which he asserted "undermines the work the DOGE team is doing."

Musk's time was always limited by his "special government employee" role

The truth is, as CNBC reported, Musk was always set to leave government service around this time from the get-go because of the limited nature of his role as a "special government employee," which only permits up to 130 days of work for the federal government in a calendar year.

Dated from the start of Trump's administration on January 20, that 130 days is set to expire at the end of May, at which time Musk will reportedly return his full attention to running his several companies, including electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, his SpaceX rockets, the social media platform X, and his xAI artificial intelligence startup, among others.

The outlet further reported that Musk previously revealed in April that he intended to keep his small office in the White House and, despite the expiration of his employee status, planned to continue working for the Trump administration for a "day or two per week" until Trump leaves office, likely in an unofficial advisory role.