AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."

Elon Musk's time in the White House has officially come to attempting to reshape the federal government.

GEOFF BENNETT: The world's richest man was tapped to lead a campaign to rein in government spending.

But, as White House correspondent Laura Barron-Lopez reports, Musk's impact remains unclear, and some agency budgets actually grew.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: After a tumultuous tenure in the White House, an Oval Office send-off for Elon Musk.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: We will remember you as we announce billions of dollars of extra waste, fraud and abuse.

Thank you.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Musk has been leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

But he's hit the time limit as a special government employee.

Still, he's expected to advise Trump from afar.

ELON MUSK, Owner, X: We are relentlessly pursuing a trillion dollars in waste and fraud reductions, which will benefit the American taxpayer.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: His goal was to slash the federal bureaucracy, reducing what he called misuse and fraud.

Months later, he's provided no evidence to back up his fraud claims, but thousands of federal employees were laid off and entire agencies shuttered.

He campaigned on saving the country at least $2 trillion, but has adjusted that significantly down, saying only $160 billion could be saved this fiscal year.

The numbers that have been posted publicly are filled with exaggerated savings and unverifiable data.

DONALD TRUMP: I have to say that the numbers that we're talking about are substantial, but they're going to be very much more substantial with time, because many of the things that we're working on right now, we're going to have to remember Elon as we find them, but the numbers could double and triple.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Over the course of his time in Washington, Musk butted heads publicly and privately with members of Trump's Cabinet.

Earlier this week, Musk for the first time making more direct comments against a Trump priority, telling CBS he isn't a fan of the president's big domestic policy bill.

ELON MUSK: I was, like, disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.

I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful.

(LAUGHTER) ELON MUSK: But I don't know if it could be both.

My personal opinion.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: But, today, Trump promised to back up Musk's work.

DONALD TRUMP: We're totally committed to making the DOGE cuts permanent and stopping much more of the waste in the months that come.

We put some of this into the bill, but most of it's going to come later.

We're going to have it cauterized by Congress, affirmed by Congress.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: After Musk's send-off, the president traveled to Pennsylvania to celebrate a new deal for the Japanese company Nippon Steel to invest in the Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel.

Nippon first announced the planned merger in 2023 before it was blocked by former President Joe Biden earlier this year.

Biden said it posed a threat to national security and that it was important to keep the company domestically owned.

On the campaign trail, Trump had promised he would not approve the deal, saying that U.S. Steel had to stay under American ownership.

DONALD TRUMP: I will not approve Japan buying U.S. Steel.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The details of the new plan are not publicly available, but the president described it as partial ownership.

DONALD TRUMP: The best and strongest steel on Earth will forever be made in America.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Meanwhile, President Trump is still filling critical roles in his administration.

Last night, he nominated a former far right podcaster as the new head of the Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal agency that protects whistle-blowers.

Paul Ingrassia has represented the right-wing influencer and accused rapist Andrew Tate, posted in support of the white supremacist Nick Fuentes and advocated for martial law, posting online in 2020 that it was time for Donald Trump to declare martial law and secure his reelection.

GEOFF BENNETT: And Laura joins us now.

So, Laura, let's start with Elon Musk.

Where does this DOGE project stand now?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So, even though Elon Musk promised some $2 trillion in savings, the cuts are actually much smaller than that.

They're closer to about $30 billion annually.

That's according to Jessica Riedl.

She's a former budget chief on Capitol Hill and is a conservative.

And also the layoffs at the IRS could actually impact the overall savings that DOGE says that it's made.

Now, when you look at Musk and DOGE's work to date, that includes either laid off or fired 260,000 people, 12 percent of the federal work force.

Many of those firings have been challenged in court.

Some of them were rehired.

And the hardest hit included USAID, Voice of America, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Most of the DOGE team is expected to stay on.

That's according to Musk and to President Trump.

And Trump and President Musk have also said that they expect more cuts to come from the DOGE team.

GEOFF BENNETT: Musk and President Trump.

(LAUGHTER) LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Yes.

Did I say President Musk?

(LAUGHTER) GEOFF BENNETT: It's OK.

So, even though Elon Musk is leaving government officially, how will he continue to influence the Trump White House and benefit from his time in government?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Well, there are multiple conflicts of interest and there are examples in the last few months.

So Elon Musk is striking deals., His companies have made multiple deals, like Starlink satellite company with Asia, Asian countries, as well as countries in the Middle East.

And some were announced when Elon Musk was traveling alongside President Trump in the Middle East earlier this month.

Now, back at home, DOGE is expected to continue to influence the Pentagon's contracts and who they decide to get contracts with.

Now, bottom line, Geoff, Elon Musk has received nearly $40 billion worth of contracts over the last two decades, so his influence is not going away.

GEOFF BENNETT: I want to ask you about some other news you reported.

Paul Ingrassia, this right-wing lawyer, former podcaster who has been nominated to head the Office of Special Counsel, tell us about him.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So President Trump fired the head of the Office of Special Counsel earlier this year along with many other watchdogs.

And Ingrassia is a staunch Trump loyalist.

And he is someone who other ethics watchdogs say that loyalty can ultimately be dangerous.

And I spoke to Jeff Sharlet, a professor at Dartmouth and a journalist who covers the far right, and he says that Ingrassia espouses white supremacist views.

JEFF SHARLET, Dartmouth College: Paul Ingrassia has described exceptional white men as heirs to our civilization.

He has written that the descendants of slaves should be paying reparations to slave owners.

He doesn't have a relationship to white supremacy.

He is speaking from within the contemporary mainstream white supremacist movement.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Ultimately, Ingrassia will have to be confirmed by the Senate.

But one thing about the special counsel, Geoff, is that they are tasked with investigating appeals from federal workers who believe they have been wrongly dismissed.

They're tasked with enforcing ethics laws.

And now some fear that Ingrassia's in this role could ultimately go after the president's foes and seek out retribution.

GEOFF BENNETT: Laura Barron-Lopez, our thanks to you, as always.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.