Dismantling agency capacity
Eliminating or hollowing out an agency's staff, offices, functions, or resources by executive action, outside the legislative process, so that the government can no longer carry out duties Congress established -- including an oversight body (an inspector general's office, GAO, a watchdog unit) resourced or staffed into irrelevance short of removing its head. The abuse is the executive nullifying a congressionally-created function without going through Congress -- not the policy merits of a smaller government, and not ordinary mismanagement. Excludes reorganizations and staffing decisions within lawful executive authority, reductions Congress itself authorized or directed, ordinary attrition, and incompetence or administrative failure. The marker is a statutorily grounded function disabled by executive fiat; resulting harm is evidence of significance, not itself the abuse.
2026 Events (36)
POGO investigation found ICE inflated detention facility ratings while cutting inspections and weakening standards
A Project On Government Oversight investigation with American University's Investigative Reporting Workshop, published August 18, 2026, found that ICE's Office of Detention Oversight nearly tripled "Superior" ratings for detention facilities since fiscal year 2024 while recorded violations fell nearly 70 percent between fiscal years 2022 and 2025. The investigation found ICE eliminated a congressional twice-yearly inspection requirement in 2025 and adopted 2026 detention standards that dropped mandatory water testing and detainee wage protections, even as a California Department of Justice report, a federal judge's order, and Disability Rights California documented ongoing medical-care and water-quality failures at facilities ICE rated favorably. The detained population passed 65,000 in 2026, and 2025 was the deadliest year in ICE custody since 2004.
ProPublica investigation found DOGE cuts left OPM FOIA office unable to fulfill records requests
A ProPublica investigation published August 11, 2026 found that the Office of Personnel Management's FOIA and Privacy Act office has become largely non-functional since the Department of Government Efficiency's early-2025 staffing cuts, which eliminated more than 600 government-information specialists across federal agencies, including 12 of OPM's own. OPM's FOIA backlog grew to over 1,600 requests by the end of fiscal 2025 — seven times the prior year's total — and average processing time doubled to more than 84 days, while a reporter attempting to file a routine request in July 2026 was bounced between broken web portals and abandoned email inboxes for weeks. OPM did not respond to a request for comment.
GAO report found FEMA and DHS cut FEMA's workforce 17% without assessing disaster-response readiness impact
On August 4, 2026, the Government Accountability Office reported that FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security cut roughly 17% of FEMA's workforce -- more than 4,300 employees -- in fiscal year 2025 without assessing how the reductions would affect the agency's ability to respond to disasters. GAO found neither agency conducted a workforce-needs analysis before pushing voluntary-separation programs or declining to renew contracts for hundreds of CORE employees, and that FEMA had operated without a strategic plan since rescinding its prior one in May 2025. DHS concurred with GAO's recommendations for a new plan and workforce analysis but said implementation depends on a permanent, Senate-confirmed FEMA administrator.
OPM finalized rule ending independent MSPB, Federal Circuit review of suitability firings for ~1M workers
On August 3, 2026, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management published a final rule, "Suitability Action Appeals," eliminating Merit Systems Protection Board and Federal Circuit review of suitability-action appeals and replacing them with an appeal process OPM adjudicates itself, effective September 2, 2026. The rule follows a separate OPM rule, effective July 30, 2026, that for the first time extended suitability actions -- a vetting tool historically used only to screen job applicants -- to post-appointment conduct by sitting federal employees, with only a written response and no evidentiary hearing before removal. OPM's own rule text projects the July 30 change will reclassify about half of federal employee removals government-wide, previously handled through the standard disciplinary process that carries a right to appeal to the MSPB.
Acting DNI Pulte announced a fifth, 'near final' round of ODNI terminations, citing a roughly 30% staff reduction
On July 28, 2026, acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte posted on X that ODNI was "Executing a 5th and Near Final Round of TERMINATIONS, an approximately 30% Staff Reduction from Weeks Ago," framing the cuts as necessary so the intelligence community would "protect the American people, NOT the political whims of the bloated and corrupt elite class." The announcement came hours before the Senate's confirmation vote on permanent DNI nominee Jay Clayton and one day after a fourth round of cuts.
Acting DNI Pulte announced a fourth round of ODNI staff cuts, again without disclosing numbers or positions affected
On July 27, 2026, acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte posted on X that ODNI had "just finished a 4th round of thoughtful, measured layoffs," continuing a pattern of unquantified staff reductions dating to his June 22 directive. Pulte did not disclose how many employees were affected, which positions were eliminated, or whether staff were terminated or reassigned. The announcement came as the Senate considered permanent DNI nominee Jay Clayton's confirmation.
FEMA cut Aberdeen-Hoquiam flood grant from $47M to $34.65M and delayed it one year as DHS diverted FEMA resources to immigration enforcement
FEMA headquarters overrode a regional approval and reduced the Aberdeen-Hoquiam, Washington flood protection BRIC grant from $47 million to $34.65 million, simultaneously delaying disbursement by one year to September 2026. A congressional ranking-member report published in July 2026 documented that DHS had instructed FEMA to divert agency resources—including staffing and program funds—to immigration enforcement rather than disaster readiness. The action came after a federal judge ruled in December 2025 that the Trump administration had unlawfully terminated the BRIC grant program and ordered its reinstatement.
Forest Service Chief Schultz falsely told Congress DOGE cuts had not harmed wildfire capacity; agency documents and officials contradicted the claim
On July 23, 2026, Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz testified before the House Agriculture Committee that DOGE budget cuts had not impacted wildfire firefighting capacity in Minnesota, where dozens of wildfires were actively burning. A Washington Post investigation published July 25, 2026, drawing on accounts from at least two current Forest Service officials and an internal agency document, reported that DOGE paused or canceled nearly all USFS grant projects and funds in early 2025, setting back fire-fuel-reduction preparedness by approximately a year and a half — directly contradicting Schultz's congressional testimony.
EEOC voted 2-1 to advance proposed rule rescinding 60-year employer demographic reporting requirement
On July 21, 2026, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission voted 2-1 along party lines to advance a Trump administration proposal to eliminate the EEO-1 reporting requirement, under which employers with 100 or more workers have submitted annual demographic data on staff sex, race, and ethnicity since 1966. The proposed rule would also end reporting for state and local governments with 100 or more employees; it will be published in the Federal Register for a 30-day public comment period, with a public hearing scheduled for August 11, 2026.
Intercept and ProPublica investigation reveals Pentagon under Hegseth gutted civilian protection unit and abandoned civilian harm-tracking database
Under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Pentagon's Civilian Protection Center of Excellence was cut from 40 staff in January 2025 to nine by the end of 2025, and the civilian harm records database was abandoned during a department-wide restructuring. A May 2026 Pentagon inspector general report found the remaining civilian-protection efforts "largely inactive" and concluded the U.S. could not adequately protect civilians in conflict zones or track harm when it occurred. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and nine colleagues warned Hegseth that gutting civilian harm mitigation capacity had left the administration "potentially in violation of federal law."
Acting DNI Pulte announced a third round of ODNI staff cuts, again declining to disclose numbers or positions affected
On July 10, 2026, acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte announced on X that ODNI had begun a third round of staff reductions, describing the office as "reducing redundant, or non-critical, personnel." As with the prior rounds, Pulte did not disclose how many employees were affected, which positions were eliminated, or whether staff were fired outright or reassigned. The announcement followed the first round of firings on June 23 and preceded a fourth round on July 27.
Trump removed the remaining members of the bipartisan Election Assistance Commission, leaving it unable to act before the 2026 midterms
On July 9, 2026, President Trump terminated the two remaining Democratic members of the independent, bipartisan Election Assistance Commission — chair Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland — who were notified by email from the White House Presidential Personnel Office, while the sole remaining Republican, Christy McCormick, resigned. The removals left the four-member commission with no commissioners and therefore unable to take official action just months before the 2026 midterm elections. The EAC maintains the national mail voter registration form, certifies voting systems, and provides guidance to state and local election officials.
MS NOW investigation reveals DOJ appointees overruling career antitrust lawyers to clear corporate mergers
MS NOW reported on July 9, 2026 that Trump administration political appointees at the Justice Department's Antitrust Division have been overruling career staff attorneys who proposed lawsuits or deeper merger reviews, moving instead to clear pending deals without standard scrutiny. Two sources named Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward as the primary driver of the non-enforcement push, reporting corroborated the following day by Bloomberg's separate account of DOJ leadership stalling a challenge to an aerospace-industry merger.
HHS postponed USPSTF meeting for fourth time since July 2025 amid plan to dismiss all 16 members
On July 6, 2026, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Immediate Office confirmed it had postponed the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force meeting scheduled for July 10, 2026, giving the panel no reason or rescheduled date -- the fourth such postponement since July 2025. The delay follows Wall Street Journal reporting that Kennedy plans to dismiss all 16 sitting USPSTF members, mirroring his 2025 dismissal of all 17 members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
Education Department withheld its 2023-24 Civil Rights Data Collection six months past its publication deadline
As of July 2, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education had not released its Civil Rights Data Collection for the 2023-24 school year — the federal dataset used to hold schools accountable on discipline, access, and discrimination — six months after its own December 2025 publication deadline. The department did not respond to repeated inquiries about the delay, which came as it cut roughly half its staff and announced plans to move the Office for Civil Rights, home to the data-collection team, to the Justice Department.
Trump DOJ refused to renew federal grant for Minnesota's Conviction Review Unit, forcing its closure
The Trump administration's Department of Justice declined to renew a federal grant sustaining Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison's Conviction Review Unit, forcing the unit's suspension on July 1, 2026. The grant—originally $300,000 in 2020 and renewed at $500,000 in 2023—was denied by the Trump DOJ when the unit applied for another renewal in 2025. Over its five-year operation, the CRU overturned three wrongful convictions and reviewed more than 1,000 applications from people claiming wrongful conviction.
CFPB Acting Director Vought ordered scattered employees to relocate to Washington by November 2 or lose their jobs
On June 30, 2026, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Acting Director Russell Vought sent relocation letters to roughly 450 remote and geographically scattered CFPB employees, directing them to move to the bureau's Washington, D.C. headquarters by November 2, 2026 or lose their jobs. Employees and the union representing them said the ultimatum functions as a mass layoff in disguise, since many affected workers have documented medical, caregiving, or mobility circumstances that make relocation unworkable. Vought, who simultaneously directs the White House Office of Management and Budget, has pursued a yearlong campaign to shutter the CFPB that federal courts have largely blocked.
CDC ordered health grantees to adopt 'parental authority' priorities and abandon harm reduction, threatening funding loss
The CDC issued a memo on June 25, 2026, to state, territorial, tribal, and local health program grantees requiring compliance with new agency priorities within five business days — by July 1 — or risk funding cancellation. The new priorities, obtained by The Guardian, included "parental authority" over children's education and required programs to move away from evidence-based harm reduction; programs covering immunizations, HIV, hepatitis, tobacco, and overdose prevention were affected. HHS confirmed the action after the story was published, and CDC program staff were reported to be unaware the memo had been sent.
HHS canceled Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program grants, redirected $67M to 'parental rights' and 'body literacy' competitions
The Department of Health and Human Services canceled most active grants under the congressionally funded Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program on June 24, 2026, and simultaneously published $71.7 million in new grant competitions requiring content aligned with "parental rights" and "body literacy" and explicitly excluding programs that "promote or advance gender ideology." An HHS official confirmed the reclaimed TPPP funds would be redirected to the new competitions. A federal court had previously vacated similar HHS guidance stripping gender-identity content from existing TPPP grantees; HHS achieved the same result by terminating and recompeting the grants.
Hegseth forced out Gen. Donahue, last U.S. soldier to leave Afghanistan, amid Pentagon leadership purge
On June 24, 2026, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth forced out Gen. Christopher Donahue, commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa and the last U.S. service member to board the final flight out of Afghanistan in 2021. The Pentagon announced Donahue would relinquish command on July 2, 2026, after just 18 months of a typical three-year tour, without providing a reason for the abrupt change. Donahue's removal is the latest in a series of senior military leadership purges under Hegseth, who has removed more than a dozen top generals and admirals since taking office.
Acting DNI Pulte fired six political appointees and removed dozens of career intelligence officers in first ODNI purge round
On June 23, 2026, acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte carried out the first round of removals under his ODNI purge: six political appointees installed by former Director Tulsi Gabbard were fired, and roughly 45 career intelligence officers on joint-duty assignment were stripped of their details and sent back to their home agencies, with additional career officials removed from their positions, according to CNN and CBS News. The cuts followed Pulte's June 22 directive ordering ODNI offices to submit ranked lists of personnel for removal.
Acting DNI Pulte ordered ODNI offices to rank personnel for mass firings, targeting career intelligence professionals
On June 22, 2026, acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte directed Office of the Director of National Intelligence offices to submit ranked lists of their personnel for cuts, beginning an expected mass purge of career intelligence professionals. The National Counterterrorism Center and National Counterintelligence and Security Center were identified as facing the deepest cuts. Pulte, who has no national-security background, assumed the acting DNI role on June 19 following Tulsi Gabbard's departure, and the firings proceed under a June 5 Trump directive to reduce the size of the intelligence community.
Education Dept. transfers Office for Civil Rights to DOJ and special education office to HHS
The U.S. Department of Education announced interagency agreements on June 16, 2026, transferring its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division under Harmeet Dhillon, and its special education oversight office (OSERS) to the Department of Health and Human Services. OCR handles discrimination complaints in K-12 and higher education; OSERS oversees implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act guaranteeing services for disabled students. Legal experts called the OCR move "illegal," saying DOJ lawyers lack specialized education-law expertise and the transfer will make it harder for students to secure relief from discrimination.
DOJ dismantles federal election-integrity safeguards ahead of 2026 midterms
Reporting published June 8, 2026 details that the Justice Department has not taken its customary steps to protect the 2026 election: it fired most lawyers in its Public Integrity Section, left the Election Crimes Branch director post unfilled, canceled election-integrity training for prosecutors and FBI agents, deleted a 281-page guide to prosecuting election offenses, and has not stood up the usual Election Day "command center" to monitor voter intimidation and disinformation. Enforcement now falls to the 93 local U.S. attorney offices, which former prosecutors warn lack the specialized expertise the dismantled units provided.
Trump directs acting DNI Pulte to start firing intelligence community personnel
In a Wall Street Journal interview published June 5, 2026, President Trump said he has directed newly installed acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte to "start the process" of firing national-security personnel and to make the intelligence community smaller, framing the targets as career officials who served under the Biden and Obama administrations. Trump said Pulte's "acting" status leaves him "less shackled" to execute rapid cuts, and indicated he does not intend to formally nominate Pulte — who has no national-security background — for the permanent role.
Trump signs order stripping civil-service protections from ~8,000 senior federal workers
On June 3, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order implementing "Schedule Policy/Career" — a revival of the first-term "Schedule F" — that reclassifies roughly 8,000 senior career federal positions, about 97% of them at the GS-15 level or above, into a new at-will category. Affected employees lose civil-service removal protections and the right to appeal adverse actions to the Merit Systems Protection Board, letting agencies fire them without cause. The Office of Personnel Management, which finalized the underlying rule, had earlier estimated up to 50,000 positions could ultimately be covered and has not ruled out expanding the pool.
Trump reclassified ~8,000 senior career federal workers as at-will under Schedule Policy/Career
On June 3, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order formalizing the "Schedule Policy/Career" classification, converting roughly 8,000 senior career civil-service positions into at-will employment removable without the procedural protections established by the Civil Service Reform Act. The order revives the first-term "Schedule F" concept (EO 13957) and lists "subversion of Presidential directives" among the grounds for removal; about 97% of affected positions are GS-15 or Senior Level roles, including directors, chiefs of staff, senior advisers, and regulation drafters. Federal unions and good-government groups warn it strips merit-system protections from policy-influencing career staff by executive action, outside the legislative process.
NIAID bars U.S. disease scientists from communicating with the WHO during active outbreaks
A May 18, 2026 internal directive from a senior National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases official, obtained by CNN, restricted U.S. infectious-disease researchers to attending World Health Organization meetings only in groups of three or fewer and only in a "listening capacity," with any research questions or countermeasure ideas routed through HHS's chain of command. The limits were imposed during active Ebola and Hantavirus responses; current and former officials called barring direct scientist-to-scientist coordination during an emerging public-health emergency unprecedented.
Hegseth replaces Congressionally-mandated Military Justice Review Panel with open-ended Pentagon legal-system review under his own general counsel
On May 8, 2026, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a two-page memo directing the creation of an "ongoing, long-term, department-wide review of all aspects of the military legal system," convened by Department of Defense General Counsel Earl Matthews and reporting directly to Hegseth. The new panel substitutes for the Military Justice Review Panel — the 13-member independent oversight body created by Congress in April 2022 to report to Congress, which Hegseth disbanded in 2025 after it delivered a 238-page review of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Current and former JAGs describe the move as completing a transfer of military-legal oversight from an independent, Congressionally-created body to an executive-controlled panel staffed by political appointees.
DOJ shut down San Francisco immigration court ahead of schedule after firing most judges, leaving 100,000 cases in limbo
The Justice Department closed the main San Francisco immigration court at 100 Montgomery Street on May 1, 2026, eight months ahead of the originally announced year-end date, after firing or forcing out at least 20 of the court's judges. More than 100,000 pending cases were reassigned to the Concord Immigration Court roughly an hour away; advocates said hearings on transferred cases would not begin until at least December 2026. The court had historically denied asylum at roughly half the national average rate; DOJ cited cost savings, while advocates said the closure targeted a court that had been favorable to asylum seekers.
Trump fires all 22 members of the National Science Board overseeing the NSF
On April 24, 2026, the Trump White House emailed all 22 seated members of the National Science Board — the statutory body Congress created in 1950 to set National Science Foundation policy, submit its budget, and approve its programs and awards — informing them their positions were "terminated, effective immediately." The mass dismissal removed the NSF's entire congressionally-created oversight body in a single morning, without legislative action and without replacement appointments in hand, leaving the agency's roughly $9 billion in research funding without its governing board.
Hegseth eliminated mandatory military flu vaccine requirement in force since 1945
On April 21, 2026, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the annual flu vaccine would no longer be mandatory for U.S. military personnel — active duty or reserve — ending a requirement in place since the close of World War II. Hegseth characterized the 80-year policy as "overly broad and not rational" and said "we will not force you" to take the vaccine.
Labor Assistant Secretary Aronowitz issued guidance curtailing EBSA fiduciary enforcement amid deep staff cuts
On April 14, 2026, Labor Department Assistant Secretary Daniel Aronowitz issued Field Assistance Bulletin 2026-01, directing the Employee Benefits Security Administration to pull back from case-by-case enforcement of retirement- and health-plan fiduciary violations and instead develop new legal theories only through formal rulemaking. The guidance followed roughly 100 staff departures at EBSA during 2025 amid broader federal workforce cuts and required senior-leadership review of significant enforcement actions going forward. Aronowitz, who ran a fiduciary-liability insurance firm before his confirmation, also barred any appearance of coordination between EBSA investigators and private plaintiff attorneys amid an ongoing DOL Inspector General inquiry into that practice.
CDC paused more than two dozen lab tests after downsizing gutted its reference labs
In the week of April 1, 2026, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted a list of more than two dozen diagnostic tests it had paused — the largest set the agency has ever halted at once — including testing for rabies, mpox, Epstein-Barr, and varicella-zoster, as well as rare imported pathogens. Reporting tied the pause directly to the agency's downsizing: staffing fell an estimated 20-25%, with the poxvirus and rabies labs losing about half their staff and the malaria branch gutted further. HHS called the pause a "routine review," a framing the reporting on staffing losses contradicts.
CNN revealed FEMA contractor Kara Voorhies exercised de facto agency authority in violation of federal regulations
On March 29, 2026, CNN reported that Kara Voorhies, an outside contractor installed at DHS by Secretary Kristi Noem and adviser Corey Lewandowski, exercised de facto governing authority over FEMA — approving disaster-aid disbursements, reviewing White House-bound documents, and influencing personnel and budget decisions — despite federal regulations barring contractors from exercising inherently governmental functions. The DHS Office of Inspector General opened an investigation into contracting practices under Noem; investigators seized Voorhies's government-issued equipment after her termination following Noem's departure.
EPA illegally terminates $2.8B Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant Program
The Environmental Protection Agency, under Administrator Lee Zeldin and acting on Trump executive orders issued January 20, 2025, terminated the Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant Program — a $2.8 billion program established by the Inflation Reduction Act to fund pollution reduction and climate readiness in underserved communities — and directed grantees to close their projects. On June 12, 2026, U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel (D. South Carolina) ruled the termination "illegal" and voided the action, finding the EPA violated the Inflation Reduction Act. Gergel declined to issue a permanent injunction requiring reinstatement, noting that rehiring the fired program staff appeared "impractical," leaving hundreds of community projects in limbo.
2025 Events (43)
DHS ousted roughly 50 FEMA disaster-response CORE staff in New Year's Eve contract non-renewals
On December 31, 2025, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and FEMA notified roughly 50 Cadre of On-Call Response and Recovery (CORE) employees that their positions would not be renewed as their contracts expired in early January 2026, according to internal emails obtained by CNN. Two sources said the decision came from FEMA's newly elevated acting administrator, Karen Evans, while a DHS spokesperson called the cuts "a routine staff adjustment of 50 staff out of 8,000" -- a characterization multiple sources disputed, saying ousting every worker whose contract expired in a specific window was not routine.
Interior Department issued memo barring all bureaus from confirming deaths or injuries on public lands
In December 2025, the Department of the Interior issued an internal memo directing all bureaus and offices — including the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — not to confirm deaths, serious injuries, or "emotionally sensitive incidents" on federal public lands. The memo, obtained by The Washington Post and reported June 24, 2026, states "Interior shall not confirm a death" and routes all fatality information through the department's Office of Communications. Former NPS officials said the change reversed longstanding practice of quickly informing the public about fatal incidents to prevent further harm.
Trump White House fired all six Commission of Fine Arts members by email, clearing reviewers of his own ballroom project
On October 28, 2025, the White House fired by email all six sitting members of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA), the federal board that must review and approve changes to the White House complex, including President Trump's proposed ballroom and a planned triumphal arch along the Potomac. The dismissed members -- Biden appointees serving statutory four-year terms, several running through 2028 -- included vice chair Hazel Ruth Edwards and architect Bruce Redman Becker, who said the CFA would otherwise have reviewed the ballroom's design. A White House official confirmed the firings and said replacements would be chosen for alignment with Trump's "America First" policies.
Trump signs EO 14356 indefinitely extending federal hiring freeze, placing political appointees in control of all career hiring
On October 15, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14356, indefinitely extending the federal hiring freeze that had been scheduled to expire that day. The order requires every federal agency to establish a Strategic Hiring Committee — composed of a majority of non-career political appointees — to approve the creation or filling of every vacancy, and mandates that all career hiring be "consistent with the national interest, agency needs, and the priorities of my Administration." Civil service experts described the requirement as unlike anything previously seen in merit-system governance, warning it erases the distinction between merit-based and patronage-based hiring.
OMB Director Vought announces 10,000+ federal shutdown layoffs, vowing to use budget lapse for permanent workforce cuts
On October 15, 2025, White House OMB Director Russell Vought publicly announced the Trump administration intended to lay off "probably north of 10,000" federal workers through reduction-in-force notices during the government shutdown, explicitly framing the budget lapse as an opportunity for permanent workforce reduction. Vought vowed to "keep those RIFs rolling throughout this shutdown, because we think it's important."
Trump administration fires 4,200 federal workers via shutdown RIFs, wielding budget lapse as workforce reduction tool
On October 10, 2025, the tenth day of a federal government shutdown, the Trump administration began issuing reduction-in-force notices to approximately 4,200 career federal workers across seven agencies, including the CDC, CISA, EPA, and IRS. OMB Director Russell Vought announced the action on social media with "The RIFs have begun."
DOJ eliminated its Community Relations Service, the "Peacemakers" civil-rights mediation office, via mass layoff notices
On Sept. 29, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice issued reduction-in-force notices eliminating its Community Relations Service, the 1964 civil-rights-era "Peacemakers" conciliation office, as a standalone unit. The department's budget documents said CRS would close all its offices by the end of fiscal 2025, citing a mismatch with "law enforcement and litigating priorities." A federal judge later declined to block the layoffs while finding civil-rights groups suing over the cuts likely to prevail on their claim that only Congress may eliminate a congressionally created agency.
Hegseth disbands 74-year-old Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, citing 'divisive feminist agenda'
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth formally disbanded the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS) on September 23, 2025, ending a Pentagon advisory panel established in 1951. A Pentagon spokesperson justified the termination by stating the committee "is focused on advancing a divisive feminist agenda that hurts combat readiness." The disbanding was carried out pursuant to a disestablishment memo Hegseth signed on September 17.
EPA fired at least 8 probationary employees who signed dissent letter, overriding internal First Amendment warning
Beginning August 29, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fired at least eight probationary employees who had signed a June 2025 "declaration of dissent" criticizing Administrator Lee Zeldin's policies as reversing scientific progress and endangering public health. An EPA assistant general counsel warned in writing beforehand that the firings would "present significant legal risk" because the letter was "likely protected speech under the First Amendment," but the agency proceeded. Targeted employees were still in probationary periods, stripping them of Merit Systems Protection Board appeal rights.
HHS de-recognized union contracts at CDC, FDA, and other agencies, stripping collective bargaining rights
The Department of Health and Human Services moved on August 22, 2025, to de-recognize all collective bargaining agreements covering workers at the CDC, FDA, and other HHS divisions, stripping thousands of federal public health employees of union rights. The action implemented a Trump labor-management executive order, making HHS the latest agency in a rolling campaign that had already reached the VA on August 6 and the EPA on August 8. The American Federation of Government Employees condemned the action as an illegal decertification of unions.
VA Secretary Collins terminated collective bargaining for 80% of VA's 400,000-person workforce
On August 6, 2025, VA Secretary Doug Collins terminated the Department of Veterans Affairs' collective bargaining agreements with most of its federal unions — including AFGE, NAGE, NFFE, NNOC/NNU, and SEIU — stripping roughly 80% of the agency's 400,000-person workforce of collectively bargained workplace protections. The VA acted under a Trump executive order declaring union contracts a national security threat, and did so while appearing to disregard OPM's own guidance on implementation.
Trump fired six of seven Puerto Rico financial oversight board members without cause
On August 5, 2025, the Trump White House terminated five members of Puerto Rico's seven-member Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB) — the body Congress created under PROMESA to oversee the territory's fiscal recovery — without stating cause, and fired a sixth member, Andrew Biggs, eight days later after he publicly defended his ousted colleagues. Three of the six sued, and on September 1, 2026, a federal judge made a preliminary injunction permanent, ruling the removals "plainly contrary to law" for lacking cause, notice, or any opportunity to respond.
EPA eliminated Office of Research and Development, laid off up to 1,155 scientists in 23% workforce cut
On July 18, 2025, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the elimination of the agency's Office of Research and Development — the scientific foundation underlying every federal air, water, and chemical safety standard for 55 years — and a reduction of more than 3,700 total EPA positions (nearly 23%). As many as 1,155 chemists, biologists, and toxicologists received reduction-in-force notices. The administration said it would replace ORD with an "Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions" subordinated to deregulatory program offices.
Trump signed EO 14317 creating unlimited Schedule G political appointee class, bypassing Senate confirmation and SES caps
President Trump signed Executive Order 14317 on July 17, 2025, creating Schedule G in the Excepted Service — a new, numerically unlimited class of non-career political appointees who fill "policy-making or policy-advocating" roles without Senate confirmation. Unlike the Senior Executive Service, whose political appointments are capped at 10 percent by statute, Schedule G positions do not count against that limit, allowing the administration to install an unrestricted number of Trump loyalists in senior agency positions. The White House described the order as providing "horsepower for agency implementation of administration policy" and as a tool to "dismantle the deep state."
State Department eliminated 1,353 positions in reorganization RIF, including its entire Consular Affairs evacuation team
On July 11, 2025, the U.S. Department of State carried out a reduction-in-force eliminating 1,353 positions as part of Secretary of State Marco Rubio's departmental reorganization, restructuring more than 300 bureaus and offices. The cuts eliminated the Bureau of Consular Affairs' entire rapid-response crisis-evacuation team, 102 cleared personnel trained to manage American evacuations abroad.
EPA placed 144 employees on administrative leave for signing a dissent letter criticizing Zeldin's policies
On July 3, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency placed approximately 144 employees on administrative leave, pending an "administrative investigation," after they signed a June 30, 2025 "Declaration of Dissent" accusing Administrator Lee Zeldin of dismantling the agency's research office, canceling environmental-justice programs, and ignoring scientific consensus to benefit polluters. EPA said the leave — initially set to run through July 17 — was warranted because the signatories had listed their official titles in the letter, and described a "zero-tolerance policy" for staff who "undermine" the administration's agenda.
CDC narrowed mandatory FoodNet pathogen surveillance from eight diseases to two as it dissolved its parasitic-disease division
Effective July 1, 2025, CDC narrowed mandatory reporting under FoodNet -- its foodborne-disease surveillance collaboration with ten state health departments covering roughly 54 million people -- from eight tracked pathogens to two, making reporting on Campylobacter, Cyclospora, Listeria, Shigella, Vibrio, and Yersinia optional. The same year, CDC dissolved its Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, the office housing the agency's Cyclospora and parasitic-disease expertise, reassigning remaining staff elsewhere. Public health researchers publicly disputed CDC's stated funding rationale and warned the changes would leave outbreaks harder to detect.
HHS directed NIAID to terminate Consortia for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development funding, ending $258M federal HIV vaccine program
On May 30, 2025, NIAID verbally notified researchers at Scripps Research and Duke University that the Trump administration was terminating the Consortia for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development (CHAVD), a $258 million, seven-year NIH-funded program representing the largest single federal investment in HIV vaccine research. NIAID also ended funding for three monkey-model vaccine research groups. The termination came as CHAVD researchers were preparing to begin clinical trials on a broadly neutralizing antibody approach that scientists described as the most promising HIV vaccine lead in decades. An HHS spokesperson cited "complex and duplicative health programs" as justification.
FBI Director Patel ordered 2,000 agents permanently shifted to immigration enforcement, gutting counterterrorism capacity
FBI Director Kash Patel directed field offices nationwide to permanently shift approximately 2,000 special agents — roughly 45% of agents in the 25 largest field offices — to full-time immigration enforcement operations during the week of May 12–14, 2025. The directive siphoned resources from counterterrorism, counterintelligence, organized crime, and fraud investigations; individual field offices lost half or more of their agents to immigration work, and the Justice Department simultaneously deprioritized white-collar and corporate crime investigation.
NSF eliminated Division of Equity for Excellence in STEM, fired all 65 staff in reduction-in-force
On May 9, 2025, NSF Chief Management Officer Micah Cheatham circulated an internal memo announcing the full elimination of NSF's Division of Equity for Excellence in STEM by July 12 via a reduction-in-force, firing all 65 permanent EES staff. Simultaneously, 84 of NSF's 143 Senior Executive Service positions were eliminated and the temporary workforce was cut from 368 to 70, reducing NSF's workforce by roughly 37 percent. The division housed congressionally mandated programs serving underrepresented minorities and disabled students in STEM.
Trump signed EO 14288 directing DOJ to rescind police-reform consent decrees and threaten prosecution of local officials for DEI policing
On April 28, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14288, directing the Attorney General to review and rescind DOJ Civil Rights Division consent decrees with local police departments and to pursue prosecution of local officials whose DEI-based policing policies the administration deems unlawful. The EO also directed the Department of Defense to identify how military assets and personnel could be used for domestic crime prevention. Implementation was immediate: the Civil Rights Division dismissed pending consent decrees in Minneapolis and Louisville, retracted violation findings in six other cities, and approximately 70 percent of Civil Rights Division staff were expected to resign or be removed.
Trump signed EO 14284 requiring political appointees to certify retention of all probationary federal employees
On April 24, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14284 requiring political appointees to affirmatively certify the retention of all probationary and trial-period federal employees before they receive career tenure. Under the prior framework established by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, new career employees automatically received tenure upon completing their probationary period without adverse action. The order made automatic separation the default in the absence of political-appointee certification, inserting a political approval gate over tenure for all competitive and excepted service employees across the executive branch.
EPA sent reduction-in-force notices eliminating 280 environmental justice and civil rights staff, shutting down the OEJECR
On April 21, 2025, EPA Assistant Deputy Administrator Travis Voyles sent reduction-in-force notices to 280 employees in the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights (OEJECR) and regional environmental justice divisions, with terminations effective July 31, 2025. An additional 175 employees performing statutory functions were reassigned within the agency. The action effectively closed the OEJECR — founded in 1992 under President George H.W. Bush and the primary federal enforcer of Title VI civil rights protections in environmental permitting — framed by EPA as terminating "Biden's environmental justice, DEI arms of the agency."
FDA halted FERN's Proficiency Testing Program, cutting pathogen-screening quality checks for 170 labs, citing staff cuts
On April 17, 2025, the FDA suspended the Proficiency Testing Program under the Food Emergency Response Network, which provided quality-control testing used by roughly 170 laboratories nationwide to screen for pathogens and contaminants, including Cyclospora in spinach and glyphosate residue in barley. The agency attributed the suspension to staffing shortages following earlier rounds of cuts.
FDA suspended a program improving bird-flu testing reliability across 40+ labs, citing its own staff cuts
On April 3, 2025, the FDA suspended its Interlaboratory Comparison Exercise for detecting Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, a program improving testing reliability across more than 40 laboratories screening dairy products and pet food for H5N1. The agency's own suspension notice to participating labs attributed the halt to staff cuts in FDA's Human Food Program made earlier that year.
DOGE used one-line ChatGPT prompts to terminate 97% of NEH's appropriated humanities grants, gutting agency in 22 days
Discovery material released in a federal lawsuit shows that between a March 12, 2025 meeting with National Endowment for the Humanities leadership and an April 1, 2025 completion, DOGE staff used brief ChatGPT prompts asking whether grants "relate at all to DEI" to screen and terminate more than 1,000 NEH grants — 97% of the agency's then- appropriated funding, about $100 million — while also eliminating 65% of NEH's staff. NEH's acting chair, Michael McDonald, yielded grant-termination authority to DOGE staff, who had no experience in humanities research or grant review.
Trump signs EO 14251 stripping collective bargaining rights from 40+ federal agencies on pretextual national security grounds
President Trump signed Executive Order 14251 on March 27, 2025, excluding more than 40 federal agencies and subdivisions from the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (FSLMRS), the law Congress enacted to protect most federal employees' right to collectively bargain. The order applied a sweeping "national security" rationale to agencies including the Department of Justice, FDA, CDC, and EPA — bodies with no plausible national security mission — stripping their workers of union rights through executive action rather than legislation. Affected unions including the NTEU, AFGE, and AFL-CIO filed legal challenges, and the EO became the legal authority for a cascade of agency-level de-recognition actions through August 2025.
Trump signed EO 14242 directing closure of the Department of Education, ordering Secretary McMahon to facilitate shutdown
President Trump signed Executive Order 14242 on March 20, 2025, directing the Secretary of Education to "take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities." The order also directed Secretary McMahon to condition all federal education funds on compliance with the administration's anti-DEI directives. The Department of Education was established by Congress under Pub. L. 96-88 in 1979; its formal abolition requires an act of Congress, not an executive order.
Trump signed EO 14238 directing elimination of USAGM, IMLS, and five other congressionally-created agencies
On March 14, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14238, "Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy," directing seven congressionally-created federal agencies — including the United States Agency for Global Media (parent of Voice of America), the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the CDFI Fund — to eliminate all non-statutory functions and reduce statutory functions to the legal minimum. Each agency head was required to submit a compliance report to the Office of Management and Budget within seven days, and OMB was directed to reject funding requests inconsistent with the elimination mandate. Courts subsequently ruled that several of the closures exceeded executive authority, as only Congress can abolish agencies established by statute.
Trump administration halted CISA's election security support to states, ending the agency's congressionally mandated protection of voting systems
On March 11, 2025, a U.S. official confirmed to Votebeat that CISA had ceased all election security support to state and local officials, ending programs the agency had run since its creation following the 2016 Russian interference campaign. The halt followed the placement of CISA election security and disinformation staff on administrative leave in February 2025. State election officials said they were left without federal cybersecurity assistance to protect voting systems and infrastructure from foreign threats.
Secretary McMahon eliminated nearly half the Department of Education workforce, cutting ~1,950 positions across all major divisions
On March 11, 2025, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon announced a reduction in force eliminating nearly half the Department of Education workforce, cutting from approximately 4,133 to about 2,183 employees. The cuts eliminated staff across all major divisions including the Office for Civil Rights, the Institute of Education Sciences, Federal Student Aid, and the Office of Special Education Programs. The Department of Education's Inspector General subsequently found that some reductions appeared to impair the department's ability to carry out its statutory responsibilities.
Secretary Rubio cancelled 83% of USAID programs, eliminating 5,200 congressionally-appropriated contracts
On March 10, 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the Trump administration had completed a DOGE-led six-week review and was cancelling 83% of USAID's programs — 5,200 of approximately 6,200 contracts — that had been congressionally appropriated. The remaining roughly 1,000 programs were to be folded into the State Department. The affected programs included HIV/AIDS treatment, malaria prevention, TB care, humanitarian food aid, and democratic governance work across dozens of countries.
VA Chief of Staff Syrek issued internal memo ordering elimination of ~83,000 positions to return to pre-PACT Act staffing levels
On March 4, 2025, Department of Veterans Affairs Chief of Staff Christopher Syrek issued an internal memo directing the VA to return to 2019 staffing levels of approximately 399,957 employees — roughly 83,000 fewer than its current workforce. The memo, developed in coordination with DOGE, set a May 9 internal review deadline, a June reorganization plan, and layoffs beginning in August. The planned reduction would functionally reverse the VA's congressionally-directed hiring expansion undertaken to implement the PACT Act, the 2022 law expanding healthcare and benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances.
GSA eliminated 18F, firing all ~90 employees of the federal technology unit, under DOGE direction
On February 28, 2025, the General Services Administration eliminated 18F, its internal technology consulting unit, firing all approximately 90 employees at the direction of DOGE. GSA Deputy Administrator Thomas Shedd announced the closure in an internal email; 18F's website was taken offline the same day. 18F was a congressionally-funded team of engineers and designers that helped federal agencies modernize digital services and largely paid for itself through interagency billing.
SSA Acting Commissioner Dudek dissolved the Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity, placing 140 employees on administrative leave
On February 25, 2025, the Social Security Administration dissolved its Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity and placed all 140 of its employees on administrative leave. Acting SSA Commissioner Leland Dudek announced the closure, saying it "advances the President's goal to make all of government more efficient," while claiming statutorily required EEO and reasonable-accommodation functions would be moved elsewhere within the agency. SSA also shuttered its Office of Transformation on the same day.
Trump signed EO 14217, directing elimination of Inter-American Foundation, USADF, USIP, and Presidio Trust
On February 19, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14217, "Commencing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy," directing four congressionally-created entities — the Inter-American Foundation, U.S. African Development Foundation, U.S. Institute of Peace, and Presidio Trust — to eliminate all non-statutory functions and reduce staff to the legal minimum. The EO also abolished the Presidential Management Fellows Program and terminated six federal advisory committees.
DOGE fired 89 FDA Human Foods Program staff overseeing food and chemical safety; deputy commissioner resigned in protest
On February 17, 2025, the Department of Government Efficiency fired 89 staff within FDA's Human Foods Program, eliminating specialists in nutrition, infant-formula safety, food-safety response, and chemical-safety review. FDA Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods Jim Jones resigned the same day, calling the cuts "indiscriminate" and warning they would undermine the administration's own stated food-safety and nutrition goals.
OPM directed agencies to fire 25,000+ probationary federal employees, bypassing statutory RIF procedures
On February 14, 2025, Acting OPM Director Charles Ezell sent a memorandum to the Chief Human Capital Officers Council directing all federal agencies to separate probationary employees not identified as mission-critical by end of day February 17. Agencies across government fired more than 25,000 employees using template termination letters citing employee "performance" — a rationale contradicted by the absence of any individualized performance review. Federal courts ruled the directive unlawful, finding OPM lacked statutory authority to direct other agencies to fire employees and that the mass separations required 60-day advance notice and formal RIF procedures that were never followed.
Trump signed EO 14210 ordering mass federal workforce reductions and granting DOGE political veto over career hiring
On February 11, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14210, directing all federal agencies to begin large-scale reductions in force and imposing a 1:4 hiring cap allowing no more than one new hire per four departures. The order required DOGE-designated team leads to approve all new career civil service appointments, inserting a political veto into the merit-based hiring system the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 was designed to protect from partisan control. Agency DEI offices and units performing non-statutory functions were identified as priority targets for elimination.
Trump fired Office of Government Ethics Director David Huitema without explanation; OGE reverted to acting director
On February 10, 2025, President Trump fired David Huitema as director of the Office of Government Ethics via a brief email from the White House Presidential Personnel Office, with no explanation given. Huitema had been Senate-confirmed in November 2024 to a five-year term, having served 19 years in federal ethics roles including at the State Department. The OGE, established by Congress as the executive branch's principal ethics watchdog, reverted to an acting director upon Huitema's removal.
Trump fired Office of Special Counsel Director Hampton Dellinger without statutory cause, disabling federal whistleblower protection agency
On February 7, 2025, President Trump fired Hampton Dellinger, director of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), via a one-sentence email from a White House personnel aide citing no cause. Federal statute limits OSC director removal to cases of inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance — grounds the termination notice did not invoke. The OSC is the primary federal agency responsible for investigating whistleblower retaliation, enforcing the Hatch Act, and protecting the employment rights of military veterans.
Trump signed EO 14171 reinstating Schedule F, stripping civil service protections from policy-influencing federal employees
On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14171, "Restoring Accountability to Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce," immediately reinstating his first-term Schedule F executive order — renamed "Schedule Policy/Career" — which reclassifies career federal employees in policy-adjacent roles into an excepted-service category without civil service protections. The order directed OPM to rescind Biden-era rules that had restored affected employees' appeal rights, and required agencies to recommend positions for reclassification; employees in the new schedule could be removed for "subversion of Presidential directives," making political alignment effectively a condition of employment.
Trump signed EO 14151 eliminating all DEI offices, programs, and equity-related grants across the executive branch
On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14151, "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing," directing all executive agencies to terminate their diversity, equity, and inclusion offices, positions, equity action plans, and related grants and contracts within 60 days. The order required agencies to place DEI staff on administrative leave pending termination, to report programs "misleadingly relabeled" to evade compliance, and designated OMB, OPM, and the Attorney General to coordinate agency-wide enforcement. A Maryland federal court issued a preliminary injunction against key provisions on February 21, 2025, which the Fourth Circuit vacated on February 6, 2026.