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  • US Government’s Core Functions Disrupted By Trump Directives

US Government’s Core Functions Disrupted By Trump Directives

Key sectors of the US government are paralyzed by new orders from Donald Trump, causing widespread disruption and concern. Explore the impact on health, roads, and tax collection.

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US Government’s Core Functions Disrupted By Trump Directives


The wheels of the US government have ground to a halt in parts under a hail of new orders from Donald Trump, leaving vital services paralyzed and raising alarm about damaging disruption to key sectors such as health, roads, and tax collection.

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Meetings on cancer research to discuss federal funding and reports on how to fight bird flu were canceled after the incoming administration placed a halt on all external communication at the health department. The cancellations were reportedly instituted partly to ensure that communications complied with the returning president’s executive order decreeing that his administration would recognize only two genders. One key aim was reportedly to expunge references to “pregnant people” rather than pregnant women, an example of inclusive terminology that has become widespread in the health sector in recent years.

Veterans of Washington’s sprawling bureaucracy said that although some pauses were common to all changes of administrations, the disruption engendered by Trump’s is unprecedented. The communication shutdown extended to meetings to review potential grants for the US Government, trump– considered the lifeblood of American medical science – and to consider updated data for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An NIH meeting scheduled for Thursday to consider grants for cancer and chronic diseases was abruptly canceled at the last minute without being rescheduled.

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“Everything is basically in chaos. And, frankly, everyone is terrified,” said Victoria Seewaldt, chair of population sciences at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center. “We’ve never seen anything like this. This is like a meteor just crashed into all of our cancer centers and research areas.”

A spokesperson for Robert F. Kennedy, Trump’s highly controversial choice for health secretary, who is awaiting a confirmation hearing and vote in the US Senate, called the communication order “a short pause to allow the new team to set up a process for review and prioritization.” However, one unnamed laboratory leader said it was ill-timed, referring to an increase in winter viruses and increased cases of bird flu.

Other health experts expressed concerns about global consequences on any setback for research, while some US researchers now fear for their jobs.

The lull in services extended beyond health. The transport department temporarily shut down a computer system for road projects, while the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) faces staff shortages caused by a hiring freeze imposed by Trump just at the point when it is likely to be dealing with an increased workload due to Americans filing their income tax returns before the annual March 31 deadline.

Trump ordered the 90-day freeze across the federal government on Monday and also instructed that the treasury department had to give approval before agencies could resume recruiting. A webinar scheduled for Thursday to give CV advice to IRS applicants who would be hired as seasonal workers to deal with the surge in tax returns was canceled. “As Americans prepare to file their 2024 tax returns starting next week, now is the time they need a qualified customer service representative to answer the phone,” said Doreen Greenwald, president of the National Treasury Employees Union. “Freezing hiring at the IRS will severely impact the level of service.”

The freeze is set to affect other services such as the National Park Service, where job offers extended to seasonal park rangers were likely to be rescinded, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, which was said to have withdrawn job offers at its hospitals and clinics.

There was confusion about the effects of another Trump executive order decreeing an immediate pause on the distribution of funds from an infrastructure law and climate legislation passed by Joe Biden. Some funds had already been promised to companies through legally binding loan contracts, prompting questions about which should be halted.

The Pentagon halted all the defense department’s global social media communications, with the exception of those pertaining to the military’s involvement at the US southern border with Mexico as part of an immigration crackdown demanded by Trump. The aim was to ensure that social media posts align with Trump’s “priorities on readiness, lethality, and war-fighting.”

ALSO READ: President Trump Empowers ICE To Deport Legally Immigrants From Biden Era

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