Impact

Both Trump and Elon Musk are union busters. Trump said on record that US workers’ wages are too high, that he hates giving overtime pay, and that striking workers should be fired. 

Trump made the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) weaker. Firing one of its members, Gwynne Wilcox made it hard for the board to make decisions on important worker’s rights cases.Trump also picked Acting General Counsel William Cowen. Cowen wrote rules that made it harder to protect workers and help them earn more money.

Workers can fight for better pay and better working conditions by coming together and bargaining as a group. For years, Republican leaders have stopped new laws that would give workers more power to speak up without being punished and make it easier to form unions. During his first term, Trump promised to undo policies that help workers.

During his first term in office, Trump also changed rules at the Department of Labor. Because of this, over 8 million workers lost their right to earn overtime pay. This cut those workers’ wages by over $1 billion a year

Trump campaigned on lowering the cost of living and making housing more affordable, but his actual policies could end up doing the opposite. 

Trump and DOGE want to cut half the staff at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD oversees affordable housing programs, distributes grants to build housing, and upholds fair housing laws. 

His immigration and trade policies could also raise construction costs. About 30% of construction workers are undocumented, and many are avoiding work due to fear of immigration raids. The U.S. also imports building materials like lumber from Canada and Mexico. Tariffs on these materials are on hold for now, but the future is unclear.

Since Trump became president, the job market in both public and private sectors has weakened. By February 2025, 460,000 people had to work part-time or had their hours cut, which is a big increase. At the same time, job growth in the private sector unexpectedly slowed. A measure of worker power, which looks at the number of people quitting their jobs versus being laid off, has also dropped, indicating that workers have less control.

The situation is getting worse as Trump’s administration plans to fire about 222,000 federal workers. Many have already been laid off or forced into early retirement. The cuts are also affecting private companies that rely on government contracts and nonprofit workers who are losing their jobs or being because government funding is frozen. All of this could lead to higher unemployment nationwide.

Job growth is also in danger because the Trump administration is cutting money for key laws passed under President Biden, like the Inflation Reduction Act. Without that funding, people are losing jobs, and workers are losing important services and protections..

Trump and Congressional Republicans are pushing for an $880 billion cut to Medicaid, which provides healthcare to 72 million Americans. House Republicans have already passed a budget resolution that would reduce Medicaid funding. These cuts will have a significant impact on Americans who rely on Medicaid for healthcare access.

Recent Trump policies have scared many immigrant workers, including those in healthcare. As a result, some aren’t showing up to work, adding more pressure to the care industry, which is already struggling to keep up as the population gets older.

Trump’s administration is planning major cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services, which handles healthcare, public health, social services, and medical research. This includes cutting funding for the National Institutes of Health, which supports important medical research. Trump has also canceled policies that helped lower drug costs for people on Medicaid and Medicare. At the same time, new rules are making it harder for transgender and non-binary people to get healthcare, moving away from protections for vulnerable communities.