Under the banner of modernization and efficiency, the Trump administration has launched a campaign to tear down what it calls “information silos” across agencies.
A March 2025 executive order required federal agencies to eliminate these silos by sharing information within and across agencies. It also ordered federal agencies to take steps to ensure they have “unfettered access” to state data generated by federally funded programs — and they have since gone after data on food stamp and Medicaid recipients. These actions prompted states to sue, to avoid a culture of fear where eligible people are unwilling to apply for benefits.
But when another IRS commissioner was pushed out this month — President Trump’s sixth since January — it wasn’t just another example of the administration’s notoriously rapid leadership turnover. The departure occurred just hours after the IRS and Department of Homeland Security clashed over the sharing of data to verify the addresses of 40,000 taxpayers DHS suspects of being undocumented.
- Date Published:8.28.2025
- Original Publication: The Hill