Vice President JD Vance told Newsmax on Thursday that despite the narrative from the mainstream media, the Elon Musk era in the Trump administration is not over following the end of the billionaire tech mogul's term as a special government employee.
President Donald Trump tasked Musk to lead the Department of Government Efficiency's efforts to streamline the federal government by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse. Musk announced Wednesday he is leaving as DOGE's chief.
"What he has done is really incredible," Vance said in an exclusive interview on "Greg Kelly Reports." "People sort of forget that when he came into the U.S. government, we had never had a full-scale effort to actually look at, are we spending the American people's dollars wisely? And he found, in a very short period of time, over $170 billion of waste, fraud, and abuse.
"There is also an effort by the media to sort of say the Elon era is over. That's actually totally wrong. Now, he has, obviously, a day job, and he's got to go back to his day job to run his companies, but the DOGE effort will continue, [and] Elon will continue to be an important adviser for both me and the president. And most importantly, the job of making the government more efficient, of not wasting people's money, that has to continue. I think it's one of the most important mandates that we got from the American people, and we will keep on executing on that mandate."
Musk reportedly told CBS News on Tuesday night that he was disappointed in the reconciliation budget legislation, dubbed Trump's "one big, beautiful bill," because it undermined the work that DOGE had done. Vance, though, said Musk isn't going out on a bad note.
"You'd have to ask Elon, but my sense of Elon is, look, he's a private sector guy," Vance said. "And sometimes the government just doesn't go as fast as private sector guys want it to. I've certainly experienced that frustration. I know the president has experienced that frustration. But we've done more in the past four months than any administration in American history when it comes to cutting spending.
"You heard the speaker [Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La.] say yesterday that they're going to start voting on some of the DOGE rescission packages. It's going to be candidly a harder go in the Senate because [in] the Senate, you need 60 votes, and we only have 53 Republican senators. So, look, Elon is entitled to have his opinions about the function of government. I still think that big, beautiful bill is the way to go. It's good for the American people, and we can both cut spending but also make sure that we keep tax rates reasonable for the American people."
Vance said he will miss Musk's presence within the administration.
"Elon has become a very good friend, really over the campaign and certainly over his time in Washington," Vance said. "He and his kids have come over to our house and had dinner with our kids. So, I'm very close to him."
GET TODAY NEWSMAX+:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America with more than 30 million people watching!
Reuters Institute reports NEWSMAX is one of the top news brands in the U.S.
You need to watch NEWSMAX today.
Get it with great shows from Rob Schmitt, Greta Van Susteren, Greg Kelly, Carl Higbie, Rob Finnerty – and many more!
Find the NEWSMAX channel on your cable system – Go Here Now
BEST OFFER:
Sign up for NEWSMAX+ and get NEWSMAX, our streaming channel NEWSMAX2 and our military channel World at War.
Find hundreds of shows, movies and specials.
Even get Jon Voight's special series and President Trump's comedy programs and much more!
Watch NEWSMAX+ on your smartphone or home TV app.
Watch NEWSMAX anytime, anywhere!
Start your FREE trial now: NewsmaxPlus.com
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.