Is Donald Trump improving the US government?

To assess whether the government is improving, I'll search for recent data on Trump's reforms, efficiency moves, and performance.

Whether Donald Trump is improving the U.S. government depends on how "improvement" is defined. The administration and outside assessments present sharply different evaluations.

What the Administration Claims

The White House describes the period since January 20, 2025 as "the most consequential stretch of governing in modern American history" , claiming it:

•"sealed the border, drove violent crime to historic lows, unleashed American energy, cut taxes for working families"

•Engineered deregulation and efficiency reforms

Specific claims on government operations:

•The administration's deregulatory efforts "yielded $211.8 billion in cost savings for Americans in Fiscal Year 2025—a level of regulatory savings never before achieved in American history", with a projected "$1.5 trillion in projected cost savings" for FY 2026

•The Office of Management and Budget reported "646 deregulatory actions that saved about $211.8 billion"

•An independent tracker, American Action Forum, found "Federal agencies collectively finalized $129.7 billion in net regulatory cost savings and 50.9 million hours in paperwork reductions in 2025, making it the most deregulatory calendar year recorded"

•On the "Reform Government (DOGE)" page, the White House states "Government efficiency efforts have saved an estimated $215 billion, equivalent to $1,335 per U.S. taxpayer"

•Claims that reforms "shrunk the federal workforce to its lowest level since 1966", "shrunk the federal bureaucracy by 10% in 2025", increased in-office work by 30%, and cut "129 regulations for every 1 new rule"

•Created the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on January 20, 2025, which "reorganized an entity in the Executive Office of the President (EOP), the U.S. Digital Service, as the U.S. DOGE Service", led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, with goals to modernize technology and "eliminate waste, fraud and abuse"

Other White House accomplishments cited include ending catch-and-release, historic lows in murder rate, record oil and gas production, and changes like automating federal retirements through "retire.opm.gov" after "decades of retirement records being stored in an underground mine".

What Critical and Independent Assessments Raise

Cost of workforce reductions:
A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found the "Trump administration last year spent $9.5 billion on paid administrative leave for federal workers as part of its plan to shrink the government", which "represented a sixfold increase in paid leave salary costs compared to 2023". Other reporting noted federal agencies' use of paid leave "rose 435% from 2023 to 2025 – costing six times what the government" paid before, with about "$6.7 billion — came from salary paid through a DOGE-era 'deferred resignation program'" that paid roughly 140,000 employees to stay home through the fall.

The DOGE effort itself was described as turbulent, with Elon Musk promising cuts up to $2 trillion before leaving in May, and the Office of Personnel Management later saying DOGE is "no longer a 'centralized entity'".

Partnership for Public Service assessment:
A report by the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service titled "A Government in Chaos: Trump's first year back in office" concluded:

•"Since his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, President Donald Trump has undertaken the most radical transformation of the federal government in over a halfcentury, arbitrarily slashing the federal workforce, unilaterally dismantling agencies and eliminating critical programs and services"

•It found the government "is now less prepared for a terrorist attack than it was pre9/11, less capable of dealing with a catastrophic natural disaster than before Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and less able to deal with public health concerns than prior to the recent COVID-19 pandemic"

•Cited firing "17 inspectors general, who help prevent waste, fraud and abuse, and the head of the Office of Special Counsel, who protects whistleblowers", and that "The 43 day shutdown that began in October—the longest in history—caused further disruption of critical government services"

•Cited operational disruptions such as a "$1 limit on most government credit cards—cards that are used across the government to buy supplies" leading to labs that "could not order supplies" and FEMA rescue missions that "could not get authorization for key purchases for more than 72 hours" during July floods in Texas

Politicization and Shutdown:
Critics pointed to partisan messaging during shutdowns. The administration "started to incorporate partisan — possibly illegal — messaging into official federal agency websites ahead of and during the government shutdown", with an example that HUD "blamed 'the Radical Left' for the shutdown". Reports said "While previous administrations adhered to a consistent application of shutdown rules across agencies, the Trump administration has introduced a more politicized strategy".

Public Opinion

Polling does not show a consensus that government has improved:

•At the start of his second term, his approval rating was 47%, and "Throughout 2025 to 2026, Trump's approval rating has steadily declined to an average of 37 to 40%"

•A recent YouGov measure found "39% of Americans strongly or somewhat approve of Trump's job performance, while 57% disapprove — a net approval of -19"

•Another aggregate cited "Approval: 36-44% (average ~41%)"

•Fact-checking summaries noted that while the White House points to deregulatory savings and hiring gains, "a government shutdown and allegations of politicized use of federal agencies create substantial counter-evidence about governance quality and administrative norms", and that "it lacks independent, comprehensive assessments needed to conclude definitively that the country is overall 'improved' since 2025"

In short, supporters point to record deregulation, workforce shrinkage, and Unleashing energy and border enforcement as improvements in efficiency and governance. Critics and watchdog groups point to reduced agency capacity, higher short-term costs for buyouts and leave, longer wait times at agencies like Social Security, politicization of civil service functions, and reduced transparency as evidence of worsened government performance.

Citations (3)

1whitehouse.govGovernment
President Trump Delivers Historic Results for the American People in Under Two Years
Backs: “government depends on how "improvement" is defined. The administration and outside assessments present sharply different evaluations. What the Administration Claims. The White House describes the period since January 20, 2025 as "the most consequential stretch of governing in modern American history" , claiming it:”
2whitehouse.govGovernment
Reform Government (DOGE) – The White House
Backs: “An independent tracker, American Action Forum, found "Federal agencies collectively finalized $129.7 billion in net regulatory cost savings and 50.9 million hours in paperwork reductions in 2025, making it the most deregulatory calendar year recorded". On the "Reform Government (DOGE)" page, the White House states…”
3ourpublicservice.orgNonprofits and think tanks
A Government in Chaos:
Backs: “The DOGE effort itself was described as turbulent, with Elon Musk promising cuts up to $2 trillion before leaving in May, and the Office of Personnel Management later saying DOGE is "no longer a 'centralized entity'". Partnership for Public Service assessment:”