JD Vance Says Elon Musk ‘Not Even Close to Done’ with DOGE After Report Suggests He’s ‘Stepping Back’

Vice President JD Vance declared Elon Musk’s work with DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) and the White House is “not even close to done” when asked about a report suggesting the billionaire is taking a step back in a matter of weeks.

Vance joined Lawrence Jones on Thursday’s Fox & Friends after President Donald Trump signed sweeping tariffs on imports from a number of countries the day before.

Jones asked the vice president about reports suggesting Trump has been privately telling his inner circle that Musk is taking a step back and DOGE will keep a lower profile going forward. Trump and Musk have long maintained that Musk’s role is temporary. Vance acknowledged that Musk will be departing his role at some point, but will continue as an “adviser.”

But the vice president rejected the Politico report about Musk’s time running out in weeks as “total fake news.”

“First of all, that report I saw was total fake news. Elon came in and we said, we need you to make government efficient, shrink bureaucracy that thwarts American people and also costs way too much money,” Vance said. “And we said, that’s going to take about six months, and that’s what Elon Musk signed up for, but of course he will continue to be an adviser. And by the way, the work of DOGE and Elon is not close to done.”

Musk himself similarly called the Politico report “fake news” in an X post.

Check out the exchange below:

LAWRENCE JONES: I want to get to some other news because there was some reports that came out that Elon Musk is leaving. Now of course the president said he was only going to be here for a temporary basis. Tell us about that. DOGE will continue after Elon Musk, will he still be an advisor to you and the president? You have a great relationship.

JD VANCE: First of all, that report I saw was total fake news. Elon came in and we said, we need you to make government efficient, shrink bureaucracy that thwarts American people and also costs way too much money. And we said, that’s going to take about six months, and that’s what Elon Musk signed up for, but of course he will continue to be an adviser. And by the way, the work of DOGE and Elon is not close to done. Look at fraudulent grants they found and people who are 150 years old fraudulently collecting Social Security payments and you see our Social Security system, 40% calling in are actually committing fraud. That means the 60% who need Social Security checks are waiting in line. DOGE has a lot of work to do. And yeah that work is going to continue after Elon leaves, but fundamentally Elon is going to remain a friend and advisor of me and the president and he’s done a lot of good things. People don’t realize how vast and uncontrolled bureaucracy was. We’ve started to chip away at it, but there is a lot of work to do. It’s not going to happen all in six months. It’s going to take a long and committed effort.

Watch above via Fox News.