Vice President JD Vance recently discussed the future of DOGE following Elon Musk’s departure and whether the Tesla CEO will continue his advisory role with Trump.
According to an April 2 report by Politico, which cited ‘three Trump insiders,’ President Trump was satisfied with Elon Musk’s performance as the leader of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). However, it was noted that both Trump and Musk felt it was time for Musk to “step back.”
Musk’s position within the government has been somewhat ambiguous. While the White House identified him as a ‘senior advisor’ to Trump in February, he has also been referred to elsewhere as a ‘special government employee’.
Claims regarding Musk stepping down were swiftly dismissed, clarifying that his role as a special government employee (SGE) has simply reached its conclusion. SGEs are restricted to working no more than 130 days within the government.
The question remains: What is next for Musk, and what lies ahead for DOGE?
Vance addressed this in an interview with Fox News, stating: “Well first of all, that report I saw was total fake news. Elon came in and we said, ‘We need you to make the government more efficient, we need you to shrink the incredible vast bureaucracy that thwarts the will of the American people but also costs way too much money’, and we said, ‘that’s going to take about six months’ – and that’s what Elon signed up for.”
Vance assured that Musk will “of course” continue to be an advisor to the Trump administration.
He added, “And by the way, the work of DOGE isn’t even close to done, the work of Elon is not even close to done.”
Vance highlighted several issues DOGE has uncovered, such as fraudulent grants and instances of individuals fraudulently collecting social security payments. He noted that 40 percent of those calling into the social security system are committing fraud, which affects those who genuinely need assistance.
He emphasized that the work will continue even after Musk’s departure, concluding, “Fundamentally, Elon is going to remain both a friend and advisor of me and the president and he’s done a lot of good things. People don’t realise how vast and uncontrolled the bureaucracy was.”
Vance concluded by stating that while progress has been made, much work is still needed. “We’ve started to chip away at it but there’s a lot of work to do – it’s not all going to happen in six months it’s going to take a long and committed effort.”