The federal government is in the middle of a historic restructuring—and the story is harder to cover than it should be.
Since January 2025, the Trump administration has disrupted federal programming, federal funding and the federal workforce with unprecedented speed and severity. The full scope of these changes is still unfolding. Some cuts have been reversed under court order, only to be reinstated. Others remain in active litigation, creating genuine uncertainty about what is permanent and what is temporary. Agencies have stopped publishing data they once updated routinely. The programs that were eliminated quietly, without a press release or a lawsuit, are often the hardest to find.
The state-by-state field guides below will help you cut through the noise.
Produced by the Partnership for Public Service, each guide documents executive-branch cuts that have directly impacted communities across five states. The guides are organized by sector, sourced to primary documents and existing reporting, and written to help you identify the stories that have not been told yet. To help you accurately assign responsibility for the changes taking place, all of this material focuses on actions taken independently by the executive branch.
These resources are not exhaustive, and they are not a final verdict. Federal courts are still reviewing many of the actions documented here. Contested status and legally unsettled cases are noted explicitly, and we cite where dollar figures or jobs counts are confirmed.
Use these guides to find the local hook, identify gaps in coverage and connect with sources who can tell you what these changes mean on the ground.
Select your state to access the field guide:
Colorado
Washington
Texas
Ohio
Georgia