As whispers circulate about when Elon Musk's official role in the Trump administration may come to a close, the vice president of the United States is offering some more details. "Elon is going to remain a friend and an adviser of both me and the president," JD Vance said in a Thursday interview on Fox & Friends about what will happen after Musk steps down from the Department of Government Efficiency, per Axios. Vance noted that Musk's current designation as a "special government employee" means he can only work 130 days per year, but that Musk knew coming on board he'd only be commissioned for about six months or so.
That would place his departure sometime in May (or July, if you count only weekdays in the 130-day timeline), per CBS News. President Trump himself said on Thursday that he anticipated Musk leaving within "a few months," per the AP. "I want him to stay as long as possible," but "there's going to be a point where he's going to have to leave," Trump noted. Still, just because Musk won't have an official title in the administration once that happens doesn't mean his impact won't continue to be felt, per Axios. "DOGE has got a lot of work to do," Vance said in his Fox interview, adding, per CBS: "The work of DOGE is not even close to done. The work of Elon is not even close to done." (More Elon Musk stories.)