President Donald Trump said he would like Elon Musk to lead the Department of Government Efficiency for “as long as he’d like” after a report suggested Musk was leaving the position.

These remarks were made Thursday after Trump was asked about DOGE continuing after Musk leaves the White House.

Musk is currently a special government employee as the head of DOGE. Special government employees are not allowed to work for the federal government for “no more than 130 days” in a calendar year, according to the Office of Government Ethics. The classification was created in 1962 so employees could be hired for specific short-term goals.

The timeframe is set to expire on May 30, as Musk officially began his work with DOGE after Trump took office on Jan. 20.

Politico reported recently that Musk was stepping away from his position to focus on his business initiatives.

The White House called the report “garbage,” with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posting on X, “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.”

Trump told reporters that “Elon is fantastic. He’s a patriot” and he can stay “as long as he’d like.”

On whether or not Musk would be appointed to a new position, Trump said that could be a possibility as he thinks “Elon’s great,” but “he also has a company to run, or a number of companies to run.”

Vice President JD Vance addressed the Politico report and Musk’s role on Thursday.

“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 said. “The work of DOGE is not even close to done. The work of Elon is not even close to done.”

Editor’s note: Geoff Harris contributed to this report.

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