A former federal worker from Ohio is creating an online map to track the impacts of government cuts.
Abby Andre is an Ohio State University Ph.D. student who worked as a Department of Justice attorney from 2010 to 2019. She founded the Impact Project in mid-February, after seeing changes like mass firings and funding freezes coming from the Trump administration, but finding few tools following them.
“It became pretty clear to me that it would be useful for folks to be able to ground those impacts in their local communities, and that there wasn't currently a map that tried to show us what was happening in as close to real time as we can manage,” Andre said.
So, she started gathering data from government websites, newspaper articles, and crowdsourced testimonials. For each impact Andre found, she added a dot to her world map.
She’s tracked more than 4,000 so far.
One represents a Columbus-based Department of Housing and Urban Development contractor facing uncertainty about their family’s financial future after the federal government cut funding and cancelled projects.
Another shows an Environmental Protection Agency worker in Cincinnati being unable to submit papers, losing funding and feeling an “impending sense of doom.”
“We include personal stories and quotes from newspaper articles, from testimonials, so that people can really understand the breadth of impact, not only on federal programs, but on people who may be your neighbors, people who may be your friends,” Andre said.
Shifting impacts and response
In the time she’s been working on the project, Andre has seen effects of federal changes shift from acute to broad.
At first, the federal government fired probationary employees and implemented straightforward executive orders. Then, it started cancelling funding for whole communities and large research institutions.
Now, Andre is seeing responses from local and state governments.
“While it's not possible for those smaller governments to emulate what the federal government does — it's simply too big — they are responding to community need,” Andre said.
As the federal government continues to implement changes, citing efficiency and cost savings, Andre is working to keep the map updated.
“I very much hope that this map and that projects like this can be used as a bridge to communicate across all kinds of boundaries, because we are all impacted by what our governments do, and the best way to understand it is to be open with our data and open in the way we communicate about impacts,” Andre said.
You can view the map or submit a testimonial at theimpactproject.org.
What the Ohio data shows:
Andre says in Ohio, impacts are being felt in rural areas and cities, across all sectors.
Based on the data she’s collected, statewide impacts include:
- 720 unpaid Inflation Reduction Act grants, totaling $50,372,159
- About 30 offices set to be closed
- 20-30 programs paused or cancelled
Read more: