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The U.S. federal workforce has fallen to its lowest level in at least a decade, according to government data published on Thursday, a result of President Donald Trump’s campaign to shrink the government.
Cuts this year have hit nearly every major federal agency, according to the statistics from the Office of Personnel Management. Several lost more than a quarter of their staff, including the Departments of Education, Agriculture and Housing and Urban Development. The Department of Homeland Security is an exception, with headcount barely fluctuating since Trump took office.
The U.S. government employs 2.1 million workers, according to OPM statistics.
The federal government has long been seen as a stable employer, with staff commonly spending decades working inside U.S. agencies. Trump and his team sought to change that at the start of his second term, as he argued that the federal government was bloated and inefficient. Thursday’s figures showed the administration’s progress on that goal.
“This effort ensures taxpayer dollars support a workforce that delivers efficient, responsive and high-quality services,” said OPM Director Scott Kupor.
Budget data points to little, if any, cost savings. The government has spent close to $244 billion on federal salaries since Trump returned to the White House, 3% more than it did during the same period under Trump’s Democratic predecessor Joe Biden, according to a Reuters analysis of daily spending figures released by the Treasury Department.
Overall, federal spending under Trump is up about 7%, driven by growth in Social Security outlays and interest payments on the national debt, according to the same daily Treasury statements.
Billionaire and former Trump adviser Elon Musk initiated the downsizing effort, with backing from his team at his Department of Government Efficiency. Days after Trump’s second term began, his administration sent a buyout offer by email to civilian federal employees, saying that the administration could not give “full assurance” that their positions would not be eliminated.
That email prompted tens of thousands of them to leave their jobs. Other messages from Musk and his team put employees on edge, including his requirement that they send an email listing five things they accomplished that week.
Thousands of employees left their agencies in the following weeks, after the Trump administration directed cabinet secretaries to dismiss employees who were new to their roles.
Agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the IRS, later dismissed more employees as part of mass layoffs. Disease researchers, tax collectors and medical-device staffers were among the employees that lost their jobs.
Federal worker unions and their allies sued over the terminations. Many of the lawsuits are still pending in court.
Musk left the Trump administration in May, following a public clash with Trump. DOGE no longer exists as a centralized entity, Kupor told Reuters in November.
(Reporting by Courtney Rozen in Washington; Additional reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Matthew Lewis, Bill Berkrot and Tom Hogue)
