Does Trump want to learn from Milei? Various funds are halted, and the U.S. government operation is in chaos
Some analysts point out that while it is not uncommon for new governments to encounter some issues in their early days, the level of chaos this time seems to be more severe. This partly stems from the significant differences in agenda between the Trump administration and the previous government. The White House spokesperson described these interruptions as "temporary inconveniences," but many government employees and external experts are concerned that if these measures last too long, they could have a significant impact on the normal functioning of the government and public services
The withdrawal of job offers, delays in medical information updates, and the halt of various funds... The U.S. government is in a crisis of operation, and Trump seems to want to replicate Milei's "shock therapy," using cuts to energy and transportation subsidies and reducing government staff to "scrape the bones for healing" of the U.S. government.
On January 25, according to CCTV News, on January 24 local time, the U.S. Department of Defense announced a suspension of almost all official social media activities for a period of 10 days. On the same day, the U.S. State Department also froze new funding for almost all U.S. foreign aid projects. With Trump rescinding nearly 80 executive orders from the Biden administration, the operation of the U.S. government has come to a standstill, even its routine functions have been halted.
Some analysts pointed out that while it is not uncommon for new administrations to encounter some issues at the beginning, the level of chaos this time seems to be more severe. This partly stems from the significant differences in agenda between the Trump administration and the previous one.
Currently, the Trump administration has ordered federal health agencies to suspend all external communications until February 1, resulting in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) being unable to update flu and avian flu data in a timely manner, nor can it release its weekly reports as usual.
The U.S. government has also ordered a freeze on hiring, leading several departments, including hospitals and clinics under the Department of Veterans Affairs, to retract job offers that had already been made. According to media reports, most agencies are in a hiring freeze that could last for up to 90 days, while the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may last even longer. Doreen Greenwald, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, believes this will severely impact the agency's service level during tax season.
Moreover, Trump has signed an executive order to suspend the disbursement of funds from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the 2022 Climate Act, causing a wave of confusion. Currently, billions of dollars have been allocated to clean energy projects through the Inflation Reduction Act and infrastructure funding, but billions more remain untapped.
The Department of Transportation temporarily shut down the computer system used to manage federal highway project funds, which also caused panic among internal personnel.
In addition, several important meetings have been canceled, including a conference call with the World Health Organization to discuss the Marburg virus outbreak in Tanzania. Scientists have stated that their grant review meetings have been canceled, which may jeopardize their funding for ongoing health research. Additionally, insiders revealed that scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have been instructed to stop procuring supplies.
A White House spokesperson described these interruptions as "temporary inconveniences," but many government employees and external experts are concerned that if these measures last too long, they could have a significant impact on the normal operation of the government and public services.
It is worth noting that previous administrations have also suspended some external communications, but analysts have stated:
"Those suspensions were nowhere near as thorough and did not affect events such as NIH grant meetings or the CDC's routine data updates."
In the fiscal year 2023, the National Institutes of Health reviewed nearly 52,000 grant applications and funded 21% of them. About 83% of the NIH's $48 billion budget flows to scientists outside of the institute's laboratories through such grantsJeremy Berg, who previously served as the director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences at the National Institutes of Health, stated that if this matter is delayed for a few weeks or longer, then everything in the entire system needs to be readjusted to function normally