JD Vance says Elon Musk isn't going anywhere
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- Vice President JD Vance said Elon Musk will remain a key voice for the White House.
- "He's going to continue to be an advisor," Vance said, adding, "work of DOGE is not even close to done."
- The White House said Musk would leave the administration "when his work is complete."
Vice President JD Vance on Thursday said that Elon Musk will always have a place in President Donald Trump's orbit.
"Of course, he's going to continue to be an advisor," Vance told "Fox and Friends" Thursday morning of Musk's status. "And by the way, the work of DOGE is not even close to done. The work of Elon is not even close to done."
Speculation has swirled over Musk's future, given his central role in Republicans' failure to elect a conservative judge to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Musk and his super PAC spent at least $20 million on the race, which the billionaire said was central to the survival of "Western civilization."
Some Republican lawmakers have also chafed at the White House DOGE office's sweeping firings amid pushback from their constituents. Musk is considered to be the DOGE office's de facto leader.
Vance's comments underline how central Musk has become to Trump's orbit. The world's richest man spent over $291 million on Republican candidates ahead of the 2024 election, mostly focused on helping Trump reclaim the White House. Musk also owns X, which has positioned itself as the leading social media platform for conservatives. Musk also reportedly pushed Trump to pick Vance, who has a background in venture capital, as his running mate.
"Fundamentally, Elon is going to remain a friend and an advisor of both me and the president, and he has done a lot of good things," Vance said.
Musk, Vance said, signed up for a roughly six-month commitment. It's unclear what the vice president meant, given that Musk faces a 130-day deadline as a special government employee. The 130-day period would end in either late May or early June, though there's little teeth to the actual deadline beyond the possibility of a lawsuit.
On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt downplayed a Politico report that said Trump had told members of his inner circle that Musk would leave the administration soon. Musk also called the report "fake news."
"Elon Musk and President Trump have both publicly stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete," Leavitt wrote on X.
Trump's executive order setting up the DOGE office envisioned it ending by the 250th anniversary of US independence, July 4, 2026. In the past, the White House has also been murky about the 130-day timeline.
Telsa shares went up after the Politico report, illustrating hopes that Musk will return his focus to the automaker, which has borne the brunt of the backlash to the billionaire's time in the Trump administration.