President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, directing the federal government to put its public-facing services behind one address: America.gov. The order, "Streamlining Access to Government Services Through America.gov," was issued the same morning the site's question-and-answer tool opened to the public.
The premise the White House offers for the change is a number: Americans spend about 10 billion hours a year dealing with federal paperwork, according to the accompanying fact sheet. "The federal government no longer stands in your way. It stands only at your service," Trump said at the announcement.
What counts as a covered service
The order applies to public-facing services that serve more than 100,000 users over a 12-month period. Those are the "covered services" agencies must identify and connect to the portal, with sign-in handled through Login.gov.
Two categories are carved out. Tax filing at the Internal Revenue Service stays where it is, and services belonging to the Department of War and the intelligence community are excluded entirely.
The order also leaves the older doors open. In-person offices, telephone lines, mail and agency-specific websites remain available, and the text says each agency keeps custody and control of its own records, systems and statutory responsibilities. On privacy, it invokes data minimization and the Privacy Act rather than creating a new central file on citizens.
What works today, and what is promised
For now the site answers questions. Users type a query in plain language and get an answer with links to the underlying official documents — an interface the administration compares to a consumer chatbot. The General Services Administration says the answer tool requires no login, stores no personal information and does not track users.
The transactional part comes later. The White House fact sheet lists passport renewal and Medicare enrollment as the next services to arrive; reporting by Spectrum News, citing the administration, put the fuller set of tasks — including student loan balances and veterans' benefits — in 2027. Spectrum News also reported the administration's claim that the portal is meant to absorb roughly 29,000 federal websites.
Who has to build it
The General Services Administration establishes and runs America.gov, assisted by the National Design Studio, whose administrator is Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia. The Office of Management and Budget has 90 days from the signing to issue implementation guidance, after which agencies are to inventory their covered services and integrate them.
That sequencing is the part worth watching. The order sets a deadline for the guidance, not for the integrations themselves, which depend on agencies whose systems were built separately over decades. The measurable test will be how many of those covered services are reachable from a single sign-in when OMB's clock runs out in late December.
Reporting from the White House and Spectrum News.
