President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025 with plans to carry out his and allies’ schemes to radically alter the federal government, dismantle key agencies, end important programs, and privatize certain services for their own benefit. Within his first few weeks back in office, Trump signed executive actions targeting the federal workforce, ordering the gutting of crucial agencies, reversing certain civil rights policies and protections, and granting unelected billionaire Elon Musk — his biggest 2024 campaign donor — unprecedented power to upend government agencies as head of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Several key agencies and projects that provide vital aid across the country were gutted or remain on Trump’s and DOGE’s chopping block, including the Social Security Administration (SSA), the Department of Education, the U.S. Post Office (USPS), and many more.
This extreme reshaping of the government represents a grave threat to the health of our democracy, which depends on a society in which all people have the opportunity to thrive. Trump’s and Musk’s decimation of the federal workforce and attacks on vital agencies threatens millions of Americans’ access to crucial social services, with disproportionate impacts on the most vulnerable groups, such as seniors who rely on government assistance, children in public K-12 education, people with disabilities, and those who live in rural areas, where access to government services is already limited. The targeting of civil rights offices directly endangers the rights of women, LGBTQ+ people, people of color, and other groups, and risks creating a society in which not everyone can participate equally.
In March, Trump issued an executive order aimed at shutting down the Department of Education, imperiling the ability of low-income students, those in rural areas, and students with disabilities to access education funding. Before Trump issued the order, the department had already announced that it would lay off nearly half of its staff and cut all divisions’ budgets, with some of the biggest hits going to federal student aid and the Office for Civil Rights, which is responsible for preventing and remediating discrimination against students. The executive order also gave Secretary of Education Linda McMahon the power to withhold federal funding for public school activities related to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
In April, American Oversight launched an investigation into the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the SSA, following reports about plans to slash the agency’s workforce by thousands, shutter numerous field offices, and implement policy changes that would make it more difficult for people to qualify for assistance. Drastic changes to the SSA along with efforts to politicize administrative law judges would create challenges for the millions of Americans who rely on its services, including by limiting or delaying access to benefits — especially in rural areas — and dramatically hinder the agency’s appeals processes. At the same time, Elon Musk was making false claims that Social Security was riddled with widespread fraud. Following backlash from recipients and disability advocates, DOGE’s plan to end SSA’s phone service program was abandoned in April.
Before resigning in March, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) announced plans to work with DOGE to cut contracts with 10,000 workers and slash billions of dollars of funding. Trump has previously called for USPS, which has operated as an independent entity since 1970, to be privatized — a move that would severely disadvantage those living in rural areas, where private carriers are less likely to travel.
The Trump administration has gutted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was created after the 2008 financial crisis to help protect Americans’ financial security, and announced plans to cut at least 80,000 employees from the Department of Veterans Affairs, which provides crucial health care and social services for veterans. The administration has also eviscerated the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), a government-run media organization that houses Voice of America and several other radio programs that transmit news into countries with authoritarian regimes. (During Trump’s first term, he appointed a CEO of USAGM who helped instill a culture of political retaliation, as was reflected in records we obtained in 2022.)
Facing another layoff deadline in mid-April, some agencies, like the Department of Health and Human Services, announced plans for additional layoffs. Others, including the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation, sent employees renewed incentives to quit.
The actions of the Trump administration threaten to weaken our democracy, which depends on the ability of everyone to lead full, rich lives, with meaningful protections for their health, education, and the environment. The deterioration of key federal agencies and programs is a dangerous step toward abandoning the promise of a government that serves all in favor of one that privileges Trump’s allies and his own political goals.
