Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has been Donald Trump’s battering ram during the president’s first 100 days, slashing the federal government and trying to bend its remnants to Trump’s will.

Elon Musk might soon be leaving Washington, but he says DOGE needs to be a long-term project. Musk insisted in a TV interview that the project to slash government spending and eliminate entire agencies ought to endure amid signs that he may soon step away from the effort and return to his struggling electric car company.