Public trust in the government has dipped to historic lows in recent years after being on the decline for decades. In 2024, just 23% of Americans reported that they trust the federal government, down from 35% in 2022, according to a national survey conducted by the Partnership for Public Service.
Within hours of President Donald Trump taking office, he signed a flurry of executive orders pulling back protections for federal employees and altering government operations, making it more important than ever for journalists to understand what the public expects of its government and how these policies might impact civil servants on a local level.
The National Press Club Journalism Institute and Partnership for Public Service held a briefing on Feb. 7, 2025, to support journalists in covering the current political environment with their audience in mind, while noting their unique role in how the public perceives — and trusts — their federal government. Watch the conversation between Max Stier, the Partnership’s founding president and CEO, and NPCJI Training Coordinator Elliot C. Williams:
Additional resources:
- Partnership for Public Service
- Survey: The State of Public Trust in Government 2024
- Federal Employee Resource Hub
- Partnership’s statements on President Trump’s executive orders
- Political Appointments Tracker (Washington Post and Partnership for Public Service)
About the speaker
Max Stier is the founding president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service. Under his leadership, the Partnership has been widely praised as a first-class nonprofit organization and thought leader on federal government management issues.
Max has worked previously in all three branches of the federal government. In 1982, he served on the personal staff of Congressman Jim Leach. Max clerked for Chief Judge James Oakes of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1992 and clerked for Justice David Souter of the United States Supreme Court in 1994. Between these two positions, Max served as Special Litigation Counsel to Assistant Attorney General Anne Bingaman at the Department of Justice. In 1995, Max joined the law firm of Williams & Connolly where he practiced primarily in the area of white collar defense. Max comes most recently from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, having served as the Deputy General Counsel for Litigation.
A graduate of Yale University and Stanford Law School, Max is a member of the Inaugural Advisory Council of the National Institute of Social Sciences, the National Academy of Public Administration, the Administrative Conference of the United States and the National Advisory Board for Public Service at Harvard College.
About the Partnership for Public Service
The Partnership for Public Service is a nonprofit organization that takes a nonpartisan approach to building a better government and a stronger democracy. The Partnership believes that our future and our democracy depend on our ability to solve big problems—and that we need an effective federal government to do so. For more than 20 years, the Partnership has helped make this vision a reality, working across four different presidential administrations to help the federal government address the challenges of the moment and those to come.
About the National Press Club Journalism Institute
The National Press Club Journalism Institute promotes an engaged global citizenry through an independent and free press, and equips journalists with skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire a more representative democracy. As the non-profit affiliate of the National Press Club, the Institute powers journalism in the public interest. The Institute depends on grants, foundation funds, and contributions from individuals like you. Your donation today allows the Institute to offer the majority of its programming at no cost.