The Department of Government Efficiency, the brainchild of Elon Musk that upended Washington with its rapid-fire drive to slash thousands of federal jobs and cut costs, is effectively leaderless now that the billionaire and his deputy have stepped down,

“DOGE’s over-promising and underperforming results damaged not only Musk’s reputation but also the standing of the Trump administration as a whole, and beyond that, probably the reputations and chances for success of future governmental reform cost-cutting measures,” presidential historian David Pietrusza told the Washington Examiner.

For many, it was inevitable the bromance between Elon Musk and Donald Trump would end in tears, but few thought the Tesla boss’s exit from the US government would be so explosive. On Thursday evening,