How Trump and DOGE will affect state and local services

This week, the Priorities Podcast is joined by Amanda Renteria, CEO of the civic tech nonprofit Code for America, and Robert Gordon, a former Joe Biden White House adviser who spent the past three decades working across state, local and federal government. Both Renteria and Gordon, who’ve centered their careers on making government function more efficiently and effectively, share why they think the first three weeks of the Trump administration have been disruptive and potentially damaging for state and local governments, but that the administration’s posture may also present an opportunity. “I have a feeling government is going to look very different in a year from now,” Renteria says.

This week’s top stories:

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds this week signed an executive order creating a Department of Government Efficiency task force. It will include 15-20 private-industry business leaders tasked with finding ways to maximize the use of taxpayer funds.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered updates to the state’s fire maps, which were most recently updated last April. The changes mandate a more conservative approach to managing natural vegetation in some of the state’s most fire-prone regions.

The Beeck Center for Social Innovation and Impact at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., has published a new tracker for state chief data officers. Ali Benson, director of the Beeck Center’s Data Labs initiative, told me the tool lends increased visibility to an increasingly important role.

New episodes of StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast are posted each Wednesday.

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