The Federal Harms Tracker is a data and storytelling project developed by the Partnership for Public Service to demonstrate what is at stake when the federal government is weakened from within. 

The project documents how the Trump administration’s unprecedented efforts to dismantle federal institutions, funding streams and infrastructure are disrupting critical public services and agency work. The tracker also illustrates how the consequences of these actions will ripple across communities for years to come.

While the impact of government management decisions can often be abstract or difficult to trace, the erosion of government capacity has a measurable effect on the public. The Federal Harms Tracker makes the outcomes of these decisions visible by measuring and mapping cuts to federal personnel, funding and infrastructure. We pair this data with original storytelling, curated media reports, expert interviews and examples of government success stories to reveal the tangible ways these reductions affect your government, your community and the economy.

Built with both immediate urgency and long-term vision, the Federal Harms Tracker is intended to help the public, the media and policymakers understand the damage already done and the risks ahead. Through this project and its suite of products, the Partnership will monitor the long-term implications of the Trump administration’s actions and highlight how making our government less capable and effective reverberates far beyond Washington, D.C.

FEDERAL HARMS TRACKER PRODUCTS

The Cost to Your Government

Explore an interactive timeline of recent civil service reductions, paired with stories of harm and risk, for a more complete picture of the impact of the administration’s efforts to shrink the federal workforce.

The Cost to Your Community

View a dynamic map that captures where and how the federal government’s footprint and impact are changing amid disruptions to the federal workforce, programs and services. Search by zip code to explore impact stories most relevant to your local community and data showing how federal jobs, dollars and real estate are changing in your state and congressional district over time.  

The Cost to Our Economy

This tool provides an aggregate estimate of the broader economic consequences of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and the administration’s management actions.  

The Cost of the Shutdown

Read curated new stories documenting the harm caused by the disruption of vital services during the 2025 federal government shutdown and the 2026 partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security.