Trump Action Archive

Supporting reports

• USAID Funding Cuts by Musk's Department of Government Efficiency — Elon Musk, through his "department of government efficiency" (Doge), has implemented significant funding cuts to the US Agency for International Development (USAID). These cuts have led to the expiration of life-saving food and medicines in warehouses and could potentially cause a resurgence of diseases such as measles, HIV, and polio. The initiative has also resulted in the termination of more than 5,600 USAID workers and the cancellation of grants to a hospital in Mozambique, which was working to prevent HIV transmission from mothers to babies.
• Federal Spending Increases by $166 Billion — The Congressional Budget Office reported that federal government spending from January to April 2025 increased by $166 billion compared to the same period last year, totaling $2.4 trillion. This increase contradicts previous claims by Elon Musk that DOGE cuts would significantly reduce government spending.

Supporting reports

• Federal workforce reductions through DOGE restructuring — DOGE's rapid restructuring of government agencies resulted in thousands of federal employees being laid off or removed. The article notes this was a consequence of Musk's formation and leadership of DOGE, which systematized agency gutting across the federal government.
• USAID decimated by DOGE restructuring — DOGE, under Musk's leadership, decimated USAID, the world's largest single provider of humanitarian aid. The article describes this as one of Musk's "triumphant" moments during his tenure in government, indicating a major agency restructuring or defunding.

Supporting reports

• HHS mass layoffs eliminate public health programs across CDC, FDA, and related agencies — HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr implemented layoffs affecting approximately 10,000 employees (one-quarter of the 82,000-person workforce) on April 1–2, 2025. The cuts eliminated entire divisions and programs including the CDC's infertility expertise branch, the Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice (responsible for climate health, lead poisoning, asthma, air quality), the FDA's tobacco policy division, the FDA's media affairs and drug communications teams, and the Administration for Community Living's disability and elderly services. The Mine Safety and Health Administration also sustained cuts affecting coal miner respiratory protection programs. Layoffs occurred with minimal public notice and left Congress uninformed.
• Department of Health and Human Services conducted mass layoffs affecting CDC, NIH, and FDA — The Department of Health and Human Services executed mass layoffs that gutted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on April 1, 2025. The layoffs significantly reduced capacity at three critical federal health agencies.
• HHS fires thousands of employees across FDA, CDC, and NIH — On April 1, HHS fired thousands of employees, including 3,500 staffers at the Food and Drug Administration, 2,400 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 1,200 from the National Institutes of Health. Former FDA Commissioner Robert Califf stated that the FDA "as we've known it is finished." The cuts included all employees responsible for handling Freedom of Information Act requests at the CDC and two-thirds of records request staff at the FDA.
• Trump administration implements mass layoffs at Health and Human Services, targeting 8,000–10,000 employees — The Trump administration, led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., began laying off thousands of HHS employees on April 1, 2025. Workers across the country were summoned to federal buildings and informed of termination via badge-scan systems. The cuts target 8,000–10,000 positions across multiple agencies, including 3,500 at the FDA, 2,400 at the CDC, 1,200 at the NIH, and 300 at CMS. The restructuring aims to reduce HHS staffing from 82,000 to 62,000 positions, eliminating nearly a quarter of the workforce. Positions in human resources, procurement, finance, IT, and "high cost regions" are prioritized for elimination.
• RFK Jr acknowledges 20% of HHS job cuts were errors; reinstatement process underway — Robert F Kennedy Jr, US health secretary, admitted that approximately 2,000 of the 10,000 jobs cut from the Department of Health and Human Services this week were terminated in error and will be reinstated. The cuts, orchestrated by Elon Musk's "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE), were intended to target administrative roles but mistakenly eliminated research positions, including CDC programs monitoring lead exposure in children and FDA tobacco policy divisions. Kennedy stated reinstatement was always part of the plan, though specifics on which staff and functions will be restored remain unclear.
• HHS reinstates roughly 20% of fired employees — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told reporters on April 3 that roughly 20% of the 10,000 jobs cut from the HHS were being reinstated, claiming the firings were made in error. The reinstatement of a portion of fired employees suggests the initial cuts were not fully justified.
• Department of Health and Human Services slashed CDC jobs and programs. — On Tuesday (April 1), the Department of Health and Human Services slashed jobs and programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The cuts occurred even as measles continues to spread across the country and two Louisiana infants have died of whooping cough. The timing and scope of the cuts undermined the CDC's capacity to respond to ongoing public health threats.
• Termination of Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System team — In April 2025, the entire team behind the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), a critical tool for understanding maternal and child health outcomes, was eliminated. The loss of this team has rendered the system non-functional despite the registry remaining nominally in place, disrupting maternal and child health monitoring at state and local levels.
• NIH layoffs of senior researchers in neurological disease research — Senator Dick Durbin detailed to HHS Secretary Kennedy that on April 1, ten laboratory heads at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes—all PhDs and senior investigators—received layoff notices. Science magazine reported 25 of 320 physician researchers at NIH's Internal Clinical Center are leaving, patient numbers in the hospital have been reduced by 30%, and three grants involving ALS and dementia work at Northwestern University in Illinois have been paused. An ALS researcher at Harvard also had his grant cut. When Durbin asked Kennedy about these cuts, Kennedy claimed he had no knowledge of them until Durbin informed him.
• CDC officials overseeing bird flu response fired — On 1 April 2025, several CDC officials overseeing the bird flu (H5N1) response were fired. Following their dismissal, testing of people exposed to sick animals dropped dramatically from approximately 830 people tested by late February to only about 50 people tested afterward, with no positive cases announced. This reduction in surveillance coincided with a broader erosion of pandemic preparedness infrastructure.

Supporting reports

• RFK Jr announces 10,000 job cuts and restructuring of HHS — Robert F Kennedy Jr, US Health Secretary, announced the elimination of approximately 10,000 jobs from the Department of Health and Human Services' 82,000-person workforce, combined with previous cuts bringing total losses to roughly 20,000 workers. The restructuring includes closing half of HHS's regional offices, consolidating 28 branches into 15 new divisions, and creating a new agency called the "administration for a healthy America." Specific cuts target the FDA (3,500 employees), CDC (2,400), NIH (1,200), and CMS (300). Kennedy characterized the cuts as streamlining bureaucracy and realigning the department with new priorities.
• Robert F Kennedy Jr announces 20,000 HHS layoffs — Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr announced the Department of Health and Human Services will lay off approximately 20,000 workers—nearly 25% of its 82,000-person workforce—and consolidate 28 branches into 15. The cuts affect agencies including the CDC, NIH, CMS, and FDA. Health experts and Democratic senators warn the layoffs will impair pandemic preparedness and enable privatization of critical public health services, exacerbating health inequalities and undermining disease surveillance and emergency response capacity.
• HHS announces additional workforce reductions — The Department of Health and Human Services announced plans to cut 10,000 employees in addition to 10,000 who have already departed and more than 5,000 probationary workers fired in the previous month. The cuts include 3,500 full-time employees from the Food and Drug Administration and 2,400 employees from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, further degrading public health agency capacity.
• Trump administration implements workforce reductions across federal agencies — Internal White House documents obtained by the Washington Post detail planned employee cuts ranging from 8% to 50% across federal agencies. The Department of Housing and Urban Development faces a 50% workforce reduction, the Interior Department 25%, the IRS approximately one-third, the Justice Department 8%, the National Science Foundation 28%, the Commerce Department 30%, and the Small Business Administration 43%. These cuts follow earlier dismissals of approximately 20,000 IRS employees, particularly in enforcement divisions.
• Trump administration withholds federal funding from Columbia University over antisemitism concerns — The Trump administration withheld $400 million in federal grants from Columbia University, citing antisemitism concerns, until the university complied with administration demands. After Columbia's leadership agreed to changes, administration officials stated the modifications were only "early steps" and warned that other universities "should expect the same level of scrutiny and swiftness of action if they don't act to protect their students and stop anti-Semitic behavior on campus."