Is Donald Trump improving the US government?

I'll search for recent assessments of Trump's government reforms to give you a balanced answer.

Whether Donald Trump is improving the U.S. government is disputed and depends on how "improving" is measured. The Trump administration, its supporters, and critics point to different metrics:

What the Administration Claims

The White House presents its second-term reforms as major improvements in efficiency and accountability, centered on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE):

•DOGE was established by executive order on January 20, 2025, to "modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity" and later expanded to create a "centralized technological system" to track government spending.

•The administration claims:

•Government efficiency efforts have saved an estimated $215 billion, equivalent to $1,335 per U.S. taxpayer.

•It shrunk the federal bureaucracy by 10% in 2025.

•The percentage of federal employees working in-office increased 30% in the second quarter of 2025 after forcing bureaucrats back into the office.

•It developed “retire.opm.gov,” a website that automates federal retirements after decades of retirement records being stored in an underground mine.

•It shut down the American Climate Corps and issued actions to "eliminate wasteful spending and restore radical transparency".

•On deregulation, the White House Office of Management and Budget reported for FY 2025:

•Agencies finalized 646 deregulatory actions compared to only 5 regulatory actions, for a ratio of 129-to-1, dramatically exceeding the President's 10-to-1 target.

•These actions realized $211.8 billion in net cost savings.

•The administration describes its deregulatory agenda as the "most ambitious in American history".

•It projected $1.5 trillion in cost savings for FY 2026.

The White House also points to other areas such as border security, noting illegal immigration across the Southwest border fell to the lowest level in 50 years in 2025, and veterans' and Social Security Administration service improvements.

What Public Opinion Polls Show

Public perception has shifted negatively since the inauguration:

•In late January - early February 2025, Pew Research Center found the public evenly divided: 41% say Trump's administration will improve the way the federal government works, and 42% say it will make things worse.

•By August 2025, six months into the second term, Pew found a 53% majority say Trump is making the federal government work worse, while only about half as many (27%) say he is making the government work better.

•That shift includes erosion among his own base: 55% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents now say Trump is improving the way the federal government works – while 16% say he's making things worse, down from 76% of Republicans who expected he would make government work better shortly after inauguration. 87% of Democrats say he is worsening the way government functions.

•Trump’s overall job approval at that point stood at 38% approve, 60% disapprove, and other polling averages in 2025-2026 placed his approval around 37-40%.

In short, early 2025 views were split, but by mid-2025 far more Americans said he was making government work worse than better.

What Critics and Legal Challenges Argue

Critics argue the efficiency drive has harmed government capacity and legality:

•More than two dozen cases have been filed concerning mass layoffs, resignation offers, and efforts by DOGE to access records.

•Labor unions alleged President Trump is exceeding his constitutional authority by ordering mass workforce reductions, violating separation of powers.

•Federal courts have at times halted mass layoffs, with judges finding sweeping Reduction in Force plans went beyond ordinary workforce adjustments, and lawsuits have pushed courts into uncharted territory over voluntary resignation offers and civil service protections.

•Outside analyses have disputed the administration’s deregulation savings claims, arguing the White House wildly exaggerated savings and overlooked benefits of many rules. The Brookings Regulatory Tracker and other think tanks note that while the administration has implemented significant deregulatory changes, the implications of its aggressive push to re-orient regulatory procedures remain largely unknown.

Bottom Line

•Supporters' view of "improving": Smaller, leaner workforce, less regulation, lower compliance costs, digitized services, more in-office presence, and reduced waste equal improvement.

•Critics' view of "worsening": Cuts have reduced agency capacity, disrupted services, faced court reversals, and a majority of polled Americans perceive government functioning as worse.

If measured by the administration's own metrics (cost savings, deregulation ratio, workforce size), it claims historic improvement. If measured by public approval and legal/institutional stability, polls as of August 2025 show most Americans do not see improvement.

Citations (4)

1whitehouse.govGovernment
Reform Government (DOGE) – The White House
Backs: “DOGE was established by executive order on January 20, 2025, to "modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity" and later expanded to create a "centralized technological system" to track government spending. The administration claims: Government efficiency efforts…”
2whitehouse.govGovernment
White House Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Releases End of Year Deregulatory Stats: Showing the Trump Administration Has Best Deregulation Year in History
Backs: “It shut down the American Climate Corps and issued actions to "eliminate wasteful spending and restore radical transparency". On deregulation, the White House Office of Management and Budget reported for FY 2025: Agencies finalized 646 deregulatory actions compared to only 5 regulatory actions, for a ratio of…”
3pewresearch.orgNonprofits and think tanks
Trump's New Term: US Public Split on Whether Changes Will Be Good, Bad | Pew Research Center
Backs: “What Public Opinion Polls Show. Public perception has shifted negatively since the inauguration: In late January - early February 2025, Pew Research Center found the public evenly divided: 41% say Trump's administration will improve the way the federal government works, and 42% say it will make things worse.”
4pewresearch.orgNonprofits and think tanks
Trump's Tariffs, 'Big Beautiful Bill' Viewed Negatively as His Approval Slips | Pew Research Center
Backs: “In late January - early February 2025, Pew Research Center found the public evenly divided: 41% say Trump's administration will improve the way the federal government works, and 42% say it will make things worse. By August 2025, six months into the second term, Pew found a 53% majority say Trump is making the federal…”