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GPT-5Sep 9, 2026openai/gpt-5-2025-08-07
Is Donald Trump improving the US government?
Short answer: it depends on what you mean by “improving” and which time period you’re judging.
Ways people measure whether a president is improving government include management capacity, service delivery, fiscal stewardship, rule of law and institutional health, and policy/process efficiency. On those dimensions, Donald Trump’s record (especially 2017–2021, which is within my knowledge cutoff) is mixed and interpreted very differently by supporters and critics.
What supporters point to
•Deregulation and process changes: A major push to reduce regulatory burdens via EO 13771 and OIRA oversight; fewer new economically significant rules and claimed net compliance cost reductions.
•Pre‑pandemic economy: Unemployment fell to a 50‑year low (3.5% in late 2019), with rising wages for some lower‑income workers.
•Specific service reforms: VA MISSION Act (expanded community care), some IT/cyber and data initiatives, creation of the Technology Modernization Fund.
•Justice system reform: First Step Act on criminal justice.
•“Accountability” posture: Efforts to confront what supporters call an unresponsive or overly powerful bureaucracy.
What critics point to
•Administrative capacity and stability: Historically high senior staff turnover, many acting officials, and numerous unfilled roles—arguably reducing continuity and expertise.
•Civil service and norms: Attempts to reclassify civil servants (Schedule F), public pressure on DOJ and inspectors general, and other norm‑breaking behavior critics say weakened institutions and trust.
•Fiscal outcomes: The 2017 tax law and spending increases raised deficits even before COVID; debt rose sharply (the pandemic and relief bills amplified this).
•Service delivery strains: Backlogs and disruptions in areas like immigration and asylum processing; uneven pandemic response (though Operation Warp Speed accelerated vaccines).
•Employee morale: Federal workforce surveys showed declines in engagement at several agencies early in his term, with a mixed picture later and across agencies.
How to evaluate “improvement” now
•I don’t have up‑to‑date information after October 2024. For a current assessment, look at:
•OMB/OIRA: Net regulatory costs/benefits and rulemaking pace.
•GAO “High‑Risk List”: Whether long‑standing management problems are improving or worsening.
•Partnership for Public Service: “Best Places to Work” and “Vital Signs” for federal workforce health and vacancy rates.
•OPM Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey: Morale and engagement.
•Agency IG and GAO reports: Program performance and waste/fraud findings.
•CBO/Treasury: Deficits, debt trajectory.
•Customer experience metrics (e.g., VA, IRS, USCIS service times), FOIA backlogs, and IT/cyber incident reports.
If you can specify the time frame (first term, current term, or a specific agency or function), I can tailor a more concrete, metric‑based answer.