Since returning to the Oval Office in January 2025, President Donald Trump has fundamentally mismanaged our federal government. He has chosen deeply unqualified agency leaders, depleted the federal workforce of critical expertise and crushed the morale of the remaining workers. This demolition of the government has been justified as a means of shrinking the bureaucracy and the federal government’s footprint. But the chickens are coming home to roost for this gross mismanagement. The most significant result has been the diminished capacity of our government both to prevent bad things from happening and to effectively respond when prevention fails.
Recent headlines illustrate some of the consequences at home and abroad: A dramatic increase in foodborne illnesses; wildfires burning out of control in the West; the most measles cases in more than three decades; a reckless war with Iran that has raised gasoline prices and reduced stockpiles of critical munitions; and cyberattacks targeting water systems and other critical infrastructure.
The number of federal food inspectors decreased by more than half between September 2024 and February 2026, going from 1,035 to 473.
Consider food safety. Federal workforce data from the Office of Personnel Management shows the Food and Drug Administration has lost 22.2% of its employees since the beginning of the Trump administration. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff is down 28.1%. Moreover, the number of federal food inspectors decreased by more than half between September 2024 and February 2026, going from 1,035 to 473.
Then came the cyclospora outbreak that has sickened thousands of Americans. Investigators have struggled to identify the source of the cyclospora outbreak while local health departments, already weakened by reductions in federal assistance, have been under stress. Last year, the administration delayed a rule that could have sped up the effort to pinpoint the source of the cyclospora contamination. The Department of Government Efficiency shrank the response team for such outbreaks from 11 to three, its former lead told Wired Magazine. And on Monday, Politico reported that the White House “is shuttering research projects key to the federal government’s fight against cyclospora,” in part because the Agriculture Department is shifting one of the projects to Iowa and “every scientist working on the parasite has declined to relocate.”
The cyclospora outbreak is just one of numerous other foodborne illnesses in recent months, including eggs contaminated with salmonella and frozen berries linked to an E. coli outbreak. When our government weakens oversight, experts leave the public sector and there are insufficient people to detect an outbreak early, trace its source and stop it from spreading, the whole country pays the price.
At the same time, measles has returned to levels not seen in the United States since the disease was officially eliminated three decades ago. Now the administration is pushing changes to childhood vaccination recommendations despite the advice of major medical organizations. The timing could hardly be worse: Vaccination rates are declining while outbreaks are growing.
In the midst of the Iran war, and at a time when other nations including China and criminal organizations are creating new cyber threats, weakening our defenses is a senseless gamble.
The country also has experienced a year of extraordinary wildfires brought on by climate change, drought and other factors. But the Forest Service has lost thousands of employees who thin forests, conduct prescribed burns and provide expertise to states and communities. Meanwhile, the political appointee who oversees the Forest Service asked that extra resources be deployed to help put out a 7-acre fire that had started near his mega-ranch in Idaho.
The nation, moreover, has experienced cyber intrusions into water systems across the country. The president blamed Minnesota state officials for one such attack, even though under his administration, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has lost more than a third of its workforce, according to OPM data. This includes people responsible for working with states, local governments and critical industries to defend against cyberattacks. In addition, The Washington Post reported earlier this year that FBI Director Kash Patel fired a number of agents “who once had ties to an investigation of Donald Trump. Among them were agents who specialized in addressing threats from Iran and its proxies.”
Trump’s biggest quagmire, the Iran war, also has been exacerbated by mismanagement. Before the conflict, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth instigated a purge of top military leaders. The war was undertaken despite intelligence suggesting that Tehran would seek to close the Strait of Hormuz and destabilize the global energy markets, leading to higher gasoline prices. Both warnings, as well as fears that the war could strain U.S. defense resources and munition supplies, have come to pass.
In the midst of the Iran war, and at a time when other nations including China and criminal organizations are creating new cyber threats, weakening our defenses is a senseless gamble.
The diminution of our government’s capabilities and poor leadership have increased the odds that the next food contamination will spread farther; the next disease outbreak will be detected later with more people getting sick or dying; the next wildfire will become harder to control; the next cyberattack will disrupt the lives of more Americans; and that the Iran war will impose an even larger national security and economic toll on the country.
The past 20 months have shown the difference between good-faith efforts to streamline government versus gross mismanagement that has characterized many of this White House’s actions. A government that cannot foresee or detect the next threat or lacks the ability to properly respond is not effective or efficient. It is unprepared.
The administration’s actions have caused damage, and the problems are likely to get much worse. Lawmakers and others with a public platform must speak out against the senseless destruction taking place. And they must prepare for the time when we can rebuild the central institution of our democracy to make it more effective, responsive and accountable.
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