Justice Department halted remaining Voting Rights Act Section 2 pattern-or-practice investigations in Georgia, Texas, and Arizona — dismantling the federal government's last active voting-rights enforcement tool ahead of the 2026 redistricting cycle.

DOJ expanded FOIA exemption claims for executive-branch records tied to political appointees — lengthening backlogs documented on FOIA.gov and delaying public release of investigation materials.

Federal speech restrictions expanded to contractors and grant recipients beyond universities — conditioning billions in federal funds on ideological compliance with administration speech directives.

Pew Research finds only 18% of Americans trust the federal government 'just about always' or 'most of the time' — near historic lows amid institutional legitimacy crisis.