Short answer: it’s mixed, and it depends on which part of “government” you care about.
A few concrete indicators as of October 2026:
•Leadership and staffing: The Washington Post/Partnership for Public Service tracker shows 416 of ~823 key Senate‑confirmed jobs filled in the Trump administration, with 249 positions still lacking a nominee. Persistent vacancies can slow decision‑making and oversight.[1]
•Persistent management challenges: GAO’s government‑wide “High‑Risk List” still includes 38 major problem areas (e.g., IT modernization, improper payments, USPS finances). Some areas improved since the prior update, others regressed—so the broad picture remains unfinished business rather than a clear turnaround.[2]
•Service delivery (examples):
•Passports: Routine processing is currently 4–6 weeks (expedited 2–3 weeks), an operational metric many travelers feel directly.[3]
•Immigration benefits: Multiple datasets and analyses indicate USCIS backlogs grew through mid‑FY2026 (surpassing 7 million pending cases by FY2026 Q2), lengthening waits for many applicants even as enforcement and vetting policies tightened.[4]
•Regulatory approach: The administration has prioritized deregulatory actions and cost‑cutting across agencies (see the 2026 Unified Agenda and independent tallies), which supporters argue improves efficiency and competitiveness, while critics argue it can reduce protections and add legal risk.[5]
•Bottom line: Some frontline services show tangible improvements (e.g., passport timelines), while long‑standing cross‑agency challenges remain, and in some areas (like immigration benefits processing) backlogs have worsened. Whether that counts as “improving the US government” depends on your weighting of efficiency, service speed, policy aims, and institutional norms.[2]
If you tell me which dimensions you care about—service delivery, immigration, regulation, appointments, budgeting, or something else—I can give a more targeted assessment.
Backs: “Multiple datasets and analyses indicate USCIS backlogs grew through mid‑FY2026 (surpassing 7 million pending cases by FY2026 Q2), lengthening waits for many applicants even as enforcement and vetting policies tightened.”
Backs: “The administration has prioritized deregulatory actions and cost‑cutting across agencies (see the 2026 Unified Agenda and independent tallies), which supporters argue improves efficiency and competitiveness, while critics argue it can reduce protections and add legal risk.”