A new Economic Policy Institute report identifies 100 ways Trump has hurt working people and the economy in the first 100 days of his administration. While not exhaustive, this list represents most of the actions documented in EPI’s Federal Policy Watch, which tracks how the Trump administration, Congress, and the courts are affecting workers’ quality of life. 

“In just 100 days, Trump has taken a wrecking ball to the global economy, workers’ rights and retirement savings, and government offices that administer fundamental programs like Social Security and Medicare. The results have been disastrous for everyone but his billionaire advisors,” said Celine McNicholas, EPI’s director of policy and government affairs/general counsel. “While some of Trump’s policies have been stopped in the courts, he has demonstrated a willingness to disregard the rule of law, leaving all working people more vulnerable to his anti-worker agenda.” 

Among many other actions documented in the report, Trump has: 

• Undermined workers’ wages and working conditions. 

• • Reduced the minimum wage for federal contractors, which could cost these lower-wage workers anywhere from 25% to 60% in pay cuts. 

• • Stripped the collective bargaining and union rights of more than one million federal workers. 

• Damaged economic growth and workers’ purchasing power. 

• • Imposed large, extremely broad-based tariffs on Canada, China, and Mexico. 

• • Undid support for electric vehicle manufacturing jobs and other investments in clean car and truck technologies. 

• • Temporarily froze the payments of more than 2,600 federal programs, such as funding for apprenticeship and job training programs and scientific research grants.  

• • Halted all refugee admissions into the United States indefinitely, among many other attacks on immigrant workers.  

• Unleashed chaos and inefficiency in the public sector. 

• • Directed federal agencies to fire probationary employees and develop large-scale reductions to the federal workforce. 

• • Interfered with the independence of federal agencies by firing members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), among others.  

• • Reduced the Department of Education workforce by half. 

• • Directed federal agencies to end all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and accessibility offices and programs in the federal government. 

Long after the first 100 days, EPI will continue to track and analyze the Trump administration’s actions on Federal Policy Watch.