President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have been on the same page as the Department of Government Efficiency project continues tearing through federal agencies, mothballing some departments while also overseeing federal workforce layoffs. But it remains to be seen whether they can stay on good terms, and whether DOGE can stick around long-term.

With Trump's support, DOGE began ripping out parts of the administrative state -- first freezing some $2 billion in funds to the United States Agency for International Development, which the U.S. Supreme Court rejected. And then Musk's engineers instituted mass layoffs. Some of the employees are being asked to come back while courts hold up other layoffs.

Musk initially promised his efforts would lead to about $2 trillion in spending cuts; he eventually hedged his pledge, saying savings would come in around $1 trillion. But there are questions whether he can land on that number within a year.

As of March 3, DOGE has claimed savings of $105 billion from a combination of lease terminations, contract cancellations and firing workers. That's the equivalent of about four pennies for every dollar the federal government has spent since the start of this fiscal year, according to a new NPR analysis.

DOGE has also deleted several of the biggest spending cuts the non-governmental agency celebrated in February. The cuts contained several mistakes, leading engineers to misunderstand the level of spending on some of the programs they were slashing.

To put the overall numbers into perspective, from Oct. 1, 2024, through Jan. 31, 2025, the federal government pulled in $1.6 trillion and spent $2.4 trillion, leaving a deficit of nearly $840 billion.

Budget hawks say the only way to eat into spending is by taking a hatchet to non-discretionary spending -- like the Social Security Trust Fund, which includes Medicare. Lawmakers would also have to tackle Medicaid. So far, Trump has been unwilling to touch these programs.

Musk attended Trump's first cabinet meeting on February 26th, despite not being a member of the team. At the time, the president gave his fellow billionaire a vote of confidence by warning his cabinet members to follow DOGE's lead.

"Is anybody unhappy with Elon?" Trump said during the meeting to laughs from those in attendance. "If you are, we'll throw him out of here. Is anybody unhappy? They have a lot of respect for Elon and that he's doing this," he told a reporter who asked if his cabinet members are happy with the arrangement.

The White House is now -- less than a month later -- reportedly allowing agency heads to push back a bit more.

Trump told administration officials that Musk can make recommendations to their departments but not issue unilateral decisions, according to Politico, citing White House sources. It's the first example of the president narrowing DOGE's mandate. The president confirmed aspects of the report on his Truth Social on Thursday.

Musk was reportedly in the room when the interactions took place, and, while there, he acknowledged making some missteps — a message he shared earlier with members of Congress.

The report followed several town hall meetings around the country where congressional Republicans were pelted with pointed questions about DOGE. The dust up prompted House Republican leadership to direct lawmakers to avoid in-person events going forward.

Whether DOGE's work can stand the test of time and cement itself into the fabric of future administrations remains to be seen. There are indications that whatever the project does going forward could have long-lasting impacts. Take, for example, efforts to cull down the federal workforce.

Building up administrative capacity often takes legislative action, meaning it could be years before the government regains pre-Trump staff levels. Tens of thousands of employees have been let go in the first month and a half of the president's second term.

Efforts at selling off federal buildings could also stand the test of time. The administration published a list of more than 440 properties the GSA considered possibly selling, including the FBI headquarters and the main Justice Department building

A revised list was reportedly published hours later with only 320 entries, which excluded every previously listed building in Washington, D.C. By Wednesday morning, the list was gone entirely, according to the Associated Press. On the web page was a notification of a new list coming soon.

Most of DOGE's work is done through executive order, which means future presidents can undue and dismantle Musk's project through orders of their own. Trump would need to request Congress make the project permanent through law before his second term expires.