Trump's massive cuts threaten to upend self-branded baby gambit: report
President Donald Trump wants every child in America to own an account bearing his name, but his own government cuts may sink the plan, according to Newsweek.
The administration is racing to enroll families in "Trump Accounts," the tax-advantaged children's savings accounts created under last year's One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
They launched July 4 with a $1,000 government seed deposit for kids born between 2025 and 2028, and the Social Security Administration is now building a system to sign up newborns right at the hospital.
One official told Newsweek the goal is for "every American child" to own one.
But the agencies running the rollout, including the IRS and Social Security, are the same ones hollowed out by the Department of Government Efficiency, which hit its formal sunset July 4, the very day the accounts went live. The IRS shed roughly 28,000 jobs in 2025, a 26 percent cut, and more than 260,000 workers left the federal government under DOGE, according to the Office of Management and Budget.
Pamela Herd, a University of Michigan social policy professor, told Newsweek the program needs heavy investment to reach every family.
"The administration would need to invest heavily in outreach and support to help people understand what the accounts are, how they enroll in them, and then how they use them," she said. "But given DOGE cuts to federal agencies, from the IRS to U.S. Digital Services, I don't believe they have that capacity."
The White House hit back, with spokesman Kush Desai branding the concern an "idiotic suggestion," insisting parents can enroll online without dealing with a single government worker.
Roughly 6 million children have signed up since the launch, which Trump marked with a restless Oval Office event. Critics have said the payoff will mostly favor wealthy families.