Pamela Herd is the Carol Kakalec Kohn Professor of Social Policy and faculty associate at the Institute for Social Research Population Studies Center. Her research focuses on inequality and how it intersects with health, aging, and policy. She is…
J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy
Donald Moynihan is the Ford School’s J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy. Previously he served as Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy Chair of Public Policy and the director of the La Follette School at the…
Research, learning, and impactThe Ford School is home to or co-sponsor of a growing number of active, multi-disciplinary research centers and initiatives leveraging the knowledge and expertise across the University of Michigan. They serve as a...
Don Moynihan, Ford School professor, said the DOGE cuts at agencies created by Congress "is implementing an unprecedented scale of disruption.” Rather than just shrinking the government in ways conservatives have long advocated, these efforts by...
Don Moynihan, Ford School professor, spoke about reports of DOGE employees receiving six-figure salaries from government agencies. He said, "It does seem worth understanding what these employees are being paid, especially if they are being paid...
Don Moynihan, Ford School professor says his worries about donors dining with Trump is "where there doesn’t seem to be a clear line between Trump’s businesses and the presidency.” He says, “The concern is less about fundraising and more about access...
“To what degree do you trust them?” asks the Ford School's Don Moynihan of the some 54,000 to 104,000 Trump loyalists expected to assume public service positions after Trump's wave of mass federal firings. “That is quite a different proposition than...
"There’s a fundamental realignment of power here," said Don Moynihan, a public policy professor at the Ford School, commenting on the mass federal firings carried out by the Trump administration. “This administration is saying we have much more...
As President Trump sweeps the civil service workforce across federal agencies, there are some roadblocks he's set to encounter. Some laws existing to protect federal employees challenge the efforts of the administration. “Many of these systems have...
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is under scrutiny from the Trump administration. Many scholars, including the Ford School's Don Moynihan, are raising alarms over the threats to the CFPB. "The CFPB's basic mission is to protect American...
Donald Moynihan, professor at the Ford School, commented on President Trump's nomination for director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought: “Vought is Trump’s Thomas Cromwell: the behind-the-scenes fixer who enables his master’s...
Ford School Professor Don Moynihan, an expert in the inner workings of the federal government and how government programs affect the public, was widely sought-after in the first days of the Trump administration, as it laid out its plans to...
EXPERT ADVISORY—Two Ford School experts are available to discuss the Trump administration's efforts to freeze federal loans and grants, firing special employees involved in prosecutions of the president and other actions. Donald Moynihan, is a...
Don Moynihan, Ford School professor, described how the current administration is changing rules on Schedule F employees, "officials who played PR or advocacy roles at the request of the prior administration," who are now subject to possible "adverse...
As Donald Trump prepares to take office, news outlets are turning to the Ford School's Don Moynihan about what's on the horizon for civil servant jobs, and the validity of Elon Musk's claims to cut government spending by 2 trillion. “How the civil...
Sociologist Pamela Herd joined the Ford School faculty in September 2024 as the Carol Kakalec Kohn Professor of Social Policy. Her research focuses on inequality and how it interacts with policy issues including health, aging, and administrative...
William G. Axinn is the interim director of the Ford School’s International Policy Center. He recently published “Early-life risk factors for depression among young adults in the United States general population: Attributable risks and gender...
Donald Moynihan joined the Ford School this year as the next J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy. His research seeks to improve how government works by studying the administrative burdens people encounter in government, and he...
Recently in the media, the Ford School's Don Moynihan has commented on Elon Musk's plan for his position as lead of the new Department of Government Efficiency. Speaking with The New York Times, Moynihan argued, “Part of Musk’s M.O. historically has...
The New York Times spoke with the Ford School's Don Moynihan on what can be expected from the Republican Party following the 2024 election. Moynihan shared that, "Authoritarians tend to target certain institutions to cement their control: typically...
Donald Moynihan, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan who has studied Schedule F, said Trump’s move may go beyond the scope of the law governing the civil service and rests on a novel reading of its powers.“I don’t believe the...
The Ford School’s Donald Moynihan has been quoted by many networks for an outlook on the upcoming Trump administration. Moynihan focuses on how the election outcome will likely impact many civil servants and warns of a transition to politically...
There’s ample evidence that U.S. government programs improve food security, health and economic mobility. Yet confusing, complicated applications and interview processes often stand in the way of eligible people getting the help they need.The Better...
On October 17 the Regents of the University of Michigan approved the appointment of Donald P. Moynihan as the J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy for a five-year renewable term, effective January 1, 2025. Barry Rabe, the...
An executive order called "Schedule F," seeking to fill federal jobs with political appointees, is on the horizon under a Trump presidency. Donald Moynihan warns that Schedule F "will reduce the capacity and performance of the federal government......
