Purges and closed doors: how the Trump Administration is reshaping institutions

In the few weeks after President Trump took office, dozens of federal workers have endured sudden orders to stay at home and wait for his allies to assess whether they can continue working.

All these movements have a purpose: reshaping Government institutions to the liking of Mr. Trump, who has vowed to reduce the size of the government, eliminate institutions, and cut spending.

The reshaping started with the Department of Justice, including agencies under its wing like the FBI.

Just five days after the inauguration, the Trump Administration reassigned key senior officials across multiple divisions of the Justice Department, effectively demoting them.

After that, the Trump Administration fired around two dozen prosecutors hired or assigned to investigate the January 6 insurrection and moved to identify the FBI agents who participated.

Most of the Trump Administration's actions in the Justice Department may be framed within his promises of revenge. However, other actions seem to have the purpose of opening a cleaner path for his agenda.

According to New York Times correspondents, that was the logic behind sending 160 national security staffers home while a White House team assessed which nonpartisan experts aligned with Trump's agenda.

Still, the President's actions have only affected teams around him. The actions of one of his closest allies, Elon Musk, have a much deeper purpose to reshape the executive branch.

The White House encouraged federal workers to resign and accept eight months of payments, with an email directed at 2 million employees. The writing and subject line were strikingly similar to the one Musk sent Twitter employees when he took over.

He also made his mark by life-tweeting his DOGE team's efforts to dismantle USAID during a weekend. By Monday, all the staff had been locked out of their offices.

Shortly after, Congress raised concerns about the agency's illegal elimination without their approval. Marco Rubio said he was the acting director.

Secretary of State Rubio said his Department would absorb some of the independent agency's branches, and others would be eliminated through Congress without specifying which.

The next target was the Department of Education. Following President Trump's executive order banning DEI, the administration put dozens of Education Department workers on administrative leave.

According to the Wall Street Journal, over 60 employees who voluntarily participated in DEI programs or received diversity training received an email Friday night informing them they were on administrative leave.

A WSJ exclusive revealed that the White House is also reviewing ways to eliminate the Department as part of Musk's DOGE overhaul. According to the AP, Musk's team visited the Department hours later.

Eliminating the Department was one of the President's campaign proposals and one of the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 goals. However, it would require Congress action.

The WSJ said one of its polls showed the decision would be unpopular, and Congress might not act. Still, Trump officials are exploring executive actions to reach their goal.

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