A new Revolving Door Project tracker records cuts made by the Trump-Musk administration to enforcement capacity at agencies responsible for overseeing corporations’ activities and identifying wrongdoing.
“Enforcement capacity” refers to staffing and funding dedicated to monitoring, oversight, investigation, and preparation of cases against corporations for breaking the law. Cuts to and attacks on enforcement capacity can include firings, buyout offers, funding cuts, reorganizations, and other similar steps the Trump administration has taken to date.
Currently, the tracker includes the Department of Justice (DOJ), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), among others, with 14 total agencies featured as of this publication. Future developments at these agencies will be added on a monthly basis, and additional agencies may be added.
Each entry features:
- an overview of the enforcement function of the agency
- an analysis of who will be hurt by these cuts and who stands to benefit
- links to further resources on the Trump administration’s impact on the agency
- a chronological list of developments limiting the agency’s enforcement capacity since the start of Trump’s second term
Revolving Door Project Senior Researcher Emma Marsano said: “The Trump administration has slashed the capacity of federal agencies across the board, but they have focused with particular ardor on the agencies that investigate and prepare enforcement cases against law-breaking corporations. These cuts amount to an open license for corporations to exploit people and the planet as they mercilessly pursue profit above all.”
Revolving Door Project Executive Director Jeff Hauser said: “This tracker gives a detailed look at the Trump administration’s targeted attacks on white-collar crime enforcement powers of the federal government and their predicted impact. We’ve argued for years that these enforcement powers are under-utilized, and were critical of the Biden administration’s already lax approach to corporate crime. Now, we’re seeing the rapid acceleration of what has been a bipartisan failure to enforce the law against corporations and the wealthy more broadly—and the harms that stand to affect all of us, particularly those already most vulnerable, are striking.”
For feedback or suggestions on ways to improve and augment this tracker, contact [email protected].