The Hidden Ways Trump, DOGE Are Shutting Down Parts Of The U.S. Government

A researcher at a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lab in Cincinnati. (Joshua A. Bickel/AP)

By Hannah Natanson and Maxine Joselow

At the Environmental Protection Agency, research at 11 laboratories has ground to a halt because the Trump administration has not approved most new lab purchases.

At the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, key work on weather forecasting has slowed to a crawl because Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick must sign off personally on many contracts and grants. And at the Social Security Administration, some employees are running out of paper, pens and printer toner because the U.S. DOGE Servicehas placed a $1 spending limit on government-issued credit cards. (DOGE stands for Department of Government Efficiency, though it is not a Cabinet-level agency.)

Across the federal government, Trump officials are halting a wide range of operations by declining to approve key funds. This unofficial hold on many activities has incapacitated many agencies’ divisions, even though they remain technically intact.

The effects are especially pronounced at the EPA, where staffers at 11 labs have struggled to continue researching an array of environmental threats, including air and water pollution as well as toxic “forever chemicals.” The labs are run by the Office of Research and Development, or ORD, which may be eliminated as part of a broader reorganization of the agency.

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