President Donald Trump has been in the White House for less than three weeks and one thing has become clear: His administration – with the help of billionaire Elon Musk – will shrink the federal government in size and scope. Though experts warn their moves will likely lead to a reduction in services for the average American, they also suggest that they are unlikely to result in tax savings.

Federal employees initially had until 11:59 p.m. Thursday to sign up for the “deferred resignation” program the Trump administration announced last week, but a federal judge has paused the deadline until he can hear arguments about the legality of the plan. The offer for federal civilian employees – excluding those working in immigration, national security or air traffic control – would allow them to quit their jobs and continue to receive salaries through September. Questions swirled over the legality of the offer and whether it would come to fruition, leaving federal employees the choice of accepting its uncertain terms or staying at their jobs with future layoffs looming.

More than 40,000 employees of the 2 million who were said to have been offered the buyout have reportedly accepted the deal. That’s out of roughly 2.3 million people in the civilian workforce – a figure that swells to over 3 million when uniformed military personnel are included. U.S. Postal service employees also aren’t counted because that agency is privately funded. And though the workers accepting buyouts make up only 2% of federal employees, their impact on the lives of everyday Americans could be evident, says Hans Noel, associate professor of government at Georgetown University.

“One of the longest running conflicts in politics is about the tradeoff between how much the government provides in services and how much its citizens must be taxed to pay for those services. And it is absolutely a tradeoff,” he says. “Many of the services we rely on are not always clear before they are restricted. Everything from road maintenance to air traffic control to food inspections are felt when they fail, but we don’t notice them when they are working properly.”

Trump first introduced the idea of using Musk to help curb government waste and regulation on the campaign trail. Soon after he was elected, Trump followed through on that promise and created the Department of Government Efficiency, giving Musk unprecedented authority to slash and reshape the federal government. And while it’s not an official government department, Musk – who was not elected and not Senate-approved – and the Trump administration are making quick work of downsizing. As part of that, they have also targeted government agencies whose missions or spending they question and rolled back job protections for employees. Most of the moves appear political in nature, though the administration has characterized them as cost cutting.

Here are some of the moves that have reshaped the government since Inauguration Day:

Several of the administration’s actions raise legal questions, including whether Trump can cancel union contracts agreed upon before he was in office and whether a congressionally codified department like USAID can be legally closed without the approval of Congress.

David Richards, head of the political science department at the University of Lynchburg, says a “smaller, less meddlesome government” is a traditionally conservative political goal, though Trump’s approach is missing the mark.

“So far, the Trump administration’s approach has been more destructive than reforming,” he says. “These efforts to slash and burn parts of the government are bound to have an effect on average people.”

Richards predicts some “quasi-independent” agencies like the U.S. Postal Service won’t see a reduction in services, but wait times for agencies like the Social Security Administration or for passports or social services might be even longer than usual if staff are cut. Additionally, fewer Transportation Security Administration agents mean longer lines at the airport, and fewer park rangers may mean shorter operating hours at national parks.