“Change will never come if we wait for some other person or some other time.” — President Barack Obama.
The last 11 months have been an exercise in deconstruction of important federal institutions, which has fueled despair, increased poverty and endangered public health. A brutal immigration crackdown has separated families, rounded up people, some with legal permission to be here, and left industries with labor shortages.
While the Trump administration continues its efforts to undermine federal services, shirk established international leadership and wage culture wars, Washington state residents can be grateful for our own champions, warriors and advocates. Those include elected federal, state and local officials who resist with policies, actions and lawsuits. Neighbors who boost contributions to food banks and help their flooded neighbors clean up. Americans who don’t give up but are stirred to action, to help, to contribute, to protest.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
What was once a trusted health research agency dedicated to eradicating and preventing diseases has become a political tool fraught with distrust. Among the losses is the robust excellence of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, created 80 years ago to fight the spread of malaria. The agency has led the country with courage and innovation through health crises such as smallpox, HIV/AIDS and COVID-19. Yet, this year, Trump’s selection of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of Health and Human Services shook it to its core. Kennedy replaced the CDC’s vaccine advisory board with members who have anti-vaccination stances.
Additionally, Kennedy has threatened to cut off all Medicaid and Medicare payments to any hospital that provides minors with gender-affirming treatments. Washington is among the states that has sued the federal government over the declaration.
National Center for Atmospheric Research
The Trump administration said it will dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, one of the world’s leading Earth science research institutions.
Founded in 1960, NCAR helps us understand changes in weather patterns in relation to climate change, crucial information for a region with new experience with a building-destroying bomb cyclone in 2024, last month’s atmospheric rivers that deluged rivers and valleys, destroying homes and roads. And don’t forget the increasing frequency of wildfires most years. Possibly, NCAR’s climate change work made it a target of Trump, known for denying climate change.
USAID
One of Trump’s first acts was to pause all U.S. foreign aid for 90 days, a move that shocked the global community. Among the casualties was the U.S. Agency for International Development, a humanitarian agency created by Congress in 1961. Typically, foreign aid makes up less than 1% of the U.S. budget. But Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, led by billionaire Elon Musk, financially dismantled the agency, which has helped bring food, education, vaccines and other medical supplies and care to more than 120 countries. It has promoted democracy, economic growth and provided disaster relief. Epidemiologists and other experts have attributed about 600,000 deaths this year — mostly children — to USAID’s destruction.
The Pentagon
While the U.S. military has been bombing boats off the coast of Venezuela, ostensibly to stop drug deliveries to the United States, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth essentially cleared out the Pentagon’s press corps by requiring journalists to follow new restrictions on reporting about the military.
The New York Times, which has filed a lawsuit, PBS and other organizations left the Pentagon and were replaced by mostly conservative, nontraditional journalists.
That followed Hegseth summoning top generals and admirals to a mandatory meeting where he admonished them to get on board with a “warrior” and anti-diversity, equity and inclusion culture or “do the honorable thing and resign.” Resignations and firings followed.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is responsible for providing the nation with unemployment and inflation reports. As inflation and unemployment ticked up throughout 2025, the administration sought to sow distrust in the numbers. On Aug. 1, Trump fired a top Labor Department official just as the economic report for the summer was being issued. He blamed the messenger, not the message, or his ill-advised tariffs.
Yet, there’s hope
All are serious changes that will take years to rebuild and recover from, and this is an incomplete list. But this is not the time to despair, to check out, to bury heads in the sand. This is the time to act.
Many have, including U.S. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, and Gov. Bob Ferguson, who as state attorney general successfully sued the Trump administration 55 times during his first administration and made the persuasive case for the federal disaster designation after last month’s flooding. New AG Nick Brown has kept the fight up, leading or joining several lawsuits against the administration.
And this year, every member of the U.S. House of Representatives and a third of the Senate are up for re-election. Voters should get engaged and stay engaged. Don’t turn a blind eye. Call or email your Congress member. Form coalitions of like-minded people, protest peaceably and vote.
