Over 350 US government websites, including the CIA and Supreme Court, went down as part of Trump's federal downsizing plan led by Elon Musk.
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| Hundreds of US government websites, including key agencies, went offline amid Trump's cost-cutting measures. USAID and public health pages were also affected. Image: ChicHue |
Washington, USA — February 4, 2025:
On Monday, hundreds of US government websites were taken offline, with more than 350 of them unavailable, according to an AFP review. The affected sites included those associated with several key departments, such as Defense, Commerce, Energy, Transportation, and Labor, along with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Supreme Court. The humanitarian agency USAID’s website was also offline, as it is in the process of being shut down by the Trump administration.
A list of nearly 1,400 federal websites provided by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) revealed the extent of the disruption, with more than 350 sites inaccessible by Monday afternoon (February 3). The exact timing of the outages and whether the websites were taken offline temporarily or at the administration's request remain unclear.
This incident coincides with President Trump's ongoing drive to significantly reduce the size of the federal government. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, is leading these cost-cutting efforts through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). On Monday, Musk announced that USAID would be closed, labeling the agency, which runs relief programs in about 120 countries, as a "criminal organization."
USAID staff were instructed not to report to work, and its website went offline. In addition, numerous US government websites, including those of key public health agencies, have removed references to LGBTQ topics following an executive directive from Trump to terminate taxpayer-funded programs promoting "gender ideology."
The removal of critical health information, including data on HIV and LGBTQ youth, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website has raised concerns. The CDC's pages for these topics now show the message: "The page you're looking for was not found."
Health experts have expressed alarm over the loss of such resources, warning that it creates a dangerous gap in public health information, especially as diseases like HIV, mpox, and sexually transmitted infections continue to pose significant risks to public health. The Infectious Diseases Society of America emphasized the need for accessible data to track and respond to outbreaks.