On March 20, Trump signed an executive order titled, “Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos.”
The executive action directs agency heads to hand over “full and prompt” access to “all unclassified agency records, data, software systems, and information technology systems” to Federal officials “designated by the President or Agency Heads (or their designees). Agencies must remove barriers to sharing unclassified information with other agencies within thirty days. Seemingly in contradiction to the federalist legal-political structure of America, the executive order also demands that state programs which receive federal funding leave their data available to the federal government.
As is the case with Trump, timing is everything. This order was signed after a member of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was accused in a lawsuit of improperly sharing sensitive personal information outside of the Treasury Department. This executive order, if legal, could allow DOGE to get away with similar mischief. This action also further centralizes the entire executive apparatus, in line with Trump and his ally’s belief in an imperial presidency.
