Jan. 25 (Day 6) | The Trump administration fires independent inspectors general at government agencies. | More ›
Jan. 28 (Day 9) | Musk’s informal Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, pushes forward accessing agencies’ records, including sensitive payment information at Treasury; encouraging federal workers to resign and moving for the shutdown of USAID, which is responsible for doling out about half of U.S. foreign aid. | More ›
Feb. 4 (Day 16) | Workers at the quasi-independent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are told to halt work by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Trump tapped Bessent to also act as CFPB director. | More ›
Feb. 4 (Day 16) | Trump, whom Musk had said had agreed to shutter USAID, accuses the agency of being corrupt and getting kickbacks. USAID’s website, which had previously gone dark, goes back up with a message stating that all staff overseas were being recalled with some minimal exceptions. A Congressional Research Service report is published and notes that “the president does not have the authority to abolish it [USAID]; congressional authorization would be required to abolish, move or consolidate USAID.” | More ›
Feb. 11 (Day 23) | Trump and Musk appear together in the Oval Office to defend the work of DOGE. Trump also signs an executive order outlining how federal agencies should implement the DOGE-led reduction in force for federal agencies. Musk said that DOGE’s work was “maximally transparent,” but there’s little transparency and some exaggeration surrounding the claims of the billions of dollars saved in less than a month. An NPR analysis of several public data sources, including USASpending.gov and the Federal Procurement Data System finds errors, omissions and lingering questions about the accuracy and scale of the massive savings claimed by DOGE. | More ›
Feb. 13 (Day 25) | Federal workers begin receiving layoff notices as the Trump administration moves ahead with plans to drastically downsize the government. | More ›
Feb. 20 (Day 32) | Elon Musk brandishes a chainsaw at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, to underscore how he’s slashed the federal workforce. | More ›
Feb. 22 (Day 34) | Musk posts on X that federal workers are to send in five bullet points describing what they did the week before — or be considered resigned. Key agencies like Homeland Security, Defense, the FBI and the National Institutes of Health tell workers not to reply. But Health and Human Services told workers to do so shortly after the general counsel of the agency told workers not to. | More ›
March 18 (Day 58) | The U.S. Institute of Peace was the scene of a dramatic standoff between a DOGE team and Institute members. Washington, D.C., police attended the scene after being contacted both by USIP staff and the DOGE team on site. | More ›
March 18 (Day 58) | Social Security Administration announces changes coming March 31. People will no longer be able to verify eligibility for benefits over the phone. It will have to be done online or in person. The Trump administration says it’s to stop fraud. Critics say it may hurt people in rural areas most because of the distance to SSA offices. It also comes as SSA offices are being closed across the country because of DOGE. This is later changed. | More ›
March 20 (Day 60) | Trump signs an executive order aimed at dismantling the Education Department. “We’re not doing well with the world of education in this country, and we haven’t for a long time,” Trump said. “We’re going to be returning education, very simply, back to the states where it belongs.” Local municipalities already fund nearly all aspects of K-12 schooling. Trump also says the department’s “useful functions” will be “preserved in full” but managed by other agencies, including things like Pell Grants and Title I resources for children with disabilities. | More ›
March 27 (Day 67) | The Trump administration announces a major restructuring of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that will cut 20,000 full-time jobs. | More ›
April 22 (Day 93) | With Tesla profits plunging 71%, Elon Musk says he’ll spend less time on DOGE. | More ›