Adds quotes from Musk on timeframe for cuts

By Nathan Layne and Costas Pitas

March 27 (Reuters) - Tech billionaire Elon Musk, whom U.S. President Donald Trump has tapped to shrink the government, said on Thursday he would finish most of the work to cut $1 trillion in federal spending when his tenure ends in as soon as 64 days.

Musk told Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier" that he was confident his Department of Government Efficiency could find $1 trillion in savings, slimming current total federal spending levels of about $7 trillion down to $6 trillion.

Musk, the world's richest person, was designated by the White House as a "special government employee," which caps his work at 130 days. That means his period leading the DOGE operation could finish as soon as the end of May.

"I think we will accomplish most of the work required to reduce the deficit by a trillion dollars within that time frame," Musk said when asked by Baier about his tenure and how quickly he expected to achieve his cost-cutting target.

"The government is not efficient, and there is a lot of waste and fraud, so we feel confident that a 15% reduction can be done without affecting any of the critical government services," Musk said.

DOGE estimates it has saved U.S. taxpayers $115 billion as of March 24 through actions including workforce reductions, asset sales and contract cancellations.

However, the savings total published on the DOGE website is unverifiable and its calculations have been riddled with errors and corrections. Budget experts say Musk cannot reach his target without touching entitlement programs like Social Security, which Trump has vowed not to cut.

The interview marked the first time that Musk and his top lieutenants at DOGE met with media to explain their work. Musk was joined by seven other DOGE executives, including Steve Davis, the president of Musk's tunneling enterprise the Boring Company, and Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb.

"Unless this exercise is successful, the ship of America will sink. That's why we're doing it," said Musk, who is also CEO of electric car maker Tesla TSLA.O.

Musk's role in slashing the federal workforce and government agency budgets has drawn political backlash in recent weeks, with Tesla cars and dealerships hit by a spate of vandalism and demonstrations across the country.

(Reporting by Nathan Layne in New York; Editing by Ross Colvin, Jamie Freed and Leslie Adler)

((nathan.layne@thomsonreuters.com; +1 312 485 5116 ;))