Vice President JD Vance disputed a Politico report published Wednesday that described growing tensions between Elon Musk and some of Trump’s allies as the tech billionaire is set to step back from his role spearheading Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which has been slashing federal spending and jobs.

In an interview with Lawrence Jones on Thursday’s episode of “Fox and Friends,” Vance fired back at the article, which said President Donald Trump had been speaking with his inner circle about Musk stepping back, citing three anonymous Trump insiders who reportedly characterized him as a political liability.

The insiders told Politico they have increasingly become frustrated with Musk’s unpredictability, saying he has difficulty communicating his plans through the White House chain of command.

Musk was made a “special government employee” in January, which is reserved for someone who is expected to work for the government 130 days or fewer in a year. Though the administration had suggested he might be involved longer, his time in that status is set to around the end of May. That’s when he’s expected to step down, according to Politico, which added that some officials believe he’ll stick around as an adviser in some capacity.

Vance called the report “total fake news,” noting that the plan was always for Musk’s role at DOGE to be temporary.

“First of all, that report I saw was total fake news,” Vance told Jones. “Elon came in and we said, we need you to make government 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, but of course he’s going to continue to be an adviser.”

Vance told Jones that DOGE “has a lot of work to do” and that work will continue “even after Elon leaves,” while Musk remains “a friend and adviser” to the administration.

Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Politico’s report “garbage.”

“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,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Musk called the reports “fake news” in a post of his own.

The unelected billionaire has attracted widespread criticism while at the helm of DOGE, particularly from Democrats, as the initiative has made massive cuts to the spending and staffing of government agencies. Those cuts have included weakening regulatory agencies that are investigating his own businesses, Tesla and SpaceX.

Meanwhile, Musk’s companies have received billions of dollars in federal contracts.