President-Elect Donald Trump has a record of supporting federal CX initiatives, although, he brings differing priorities from the out-going administration.
by Brian Chidester, Head of Industry Strategy, Public Sector at Adobe
Although digital transformation in government has been an ongoing journey, the first Trump administration marked a focused period of development, especially through guidance and policies aimed at improving citizens’ interactions with government agencies.
These efforts laid the foundation for a more responsive, accessible, and streamlined approach to digital government services, setting the stage for future advancements.
One of the key moves was the 2018 Presidential Management Agenda. This directive encouraged agencies to evaluate their service delivery methods, making them more user-friendly and efficient. The order emphasized reducing administrative burdens and improving accessibility to online government services.
Building on those efforts, in President Joe Biden’s first joint address to Congress in April 2021, he made the case that customer experience was critical to democracy. “We have to prove democracy still works, that our government still works and can deliver for our people,” he said.
Then in December 2021, he signed an executive order to transform federal customer experience and service delivery to rebuild trust in government. And while the current administration is a champion of customer service practices, efforts to improve the delivery of government services from a customer experience perspective has had a home in many administrations — and likely many more to come.
The difference in the previous two administration’s approaches lies in the amount of funding and resources the candidates put behind federal initiatives and which agency initiatives they prioritize. However, regardless of priorities, the next Trump administration will be building on CX efforts that go back to the early 90s.
Quick History Lesson
During the first Bush administration, President George H.W. Bush proclaimed Oct. 4 through Oct.10, 1992, National Customer Service Week. In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed an executive order setting customer service standards for the federal government.
Each administration since has left its mark on improving the delivery of government services.
The Biden administration put money behind the initiative — spurred in part by the COVID-19 pandemic. More than ever, it was important to provide self-service options and to deliver services to people who needed it.
People expect the private sector standards of customer experience, from seamless delivery to service-centered models, from government agencies as well. There’s years of work going into the goals that were created around human-centered customer experience, and there were agencies driving that, and it finally reached a pinnacle, to a place where it could be approved and supported and pushed by Biden.
A lot of this work is not only bipartisan, it’s nonpartisan. As we’ve seen from multiple Republican and Democratic senators and Congress, this is an area, one of the few, where we can all still kind of work together and keep it going.
Trump’s Approach to CX the Next Four Years
Focus on CX certainly was not on pause during Trump’s first presidential term. His administration made improving the delivery of government services a priority. I would still expect the customer experience prioritization would move forward, it could just move forward differently.
Following the Obama administration’s cross-agency goal on customer service, the Trump administration set a cross-agency priority for CX — with an eye toward meeting the challenge like a business.
It was a lot more of, how can government be more like a business; if you can update your address with Amazon and get a package the next day, why can’t you do that with the VA and fill your prescription in the state that you’re in?
The Trump administration stood up the Customer Experience Center of Excellence at General Services Administration and piloted the life experiences project Biden then codified.
Trump’s President’s Management Agenda set a goal of improving customer experience with federal services. It called on federal agencies to provide a modern, streamlined and responsive customer experience that rivaled leading private-sector businesses.
While Trump’s campaign platform makes no mention of federal CX, experts say a Trump administration would likely continue to invest in CX. Which part of the government has the money to implement these CX features will be what the politics changes. For example, a Republican win may mean more money goes to the Department of Homeland Security’s CX efforts.
The Future of Federal CX
The government’s digital transformation is well underway, and the public expects the government to provide digital services like the public sector.
The first Trump administration’s focus on digital CX was a notable step in modernizing the federal government’s interactions with citizens. Through the establishment of standards, modernization of websites, expansion of identity verification tools, and encouragement of data-driven insights, the administration sought to make government services more accessible and efficient.
While these efforts laid essential groundwork, they also underscored the ongoing nature of digital transformation in government. Subsequent administrations have built on these foundations, continuing the push toward a government that is not only digitally capable but truly citizen-centered.
It doesn’t matter who is in office, this is not slowing down.
Brian Chidester is the Head of Industry Strategy at Adobe and the host of "The Government Huddle with Brian Chidester" podcast from GovExec. Mr. Chidester holds a B.S. in Communications Studies from Liberty University, is an Advisory Board Member for Digital Government Central, an advisor to the G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance at the World Economic Forum, and a member of the Forbes Technology Council.