The Trump administration will slash 300,000 employees from the federal workforce by the end of September, according to a new report revealing the total impact of the mass layoffs in the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term.
President-elect Donald Trump greets Elon Musk as he arrives to attend a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket on November 19, 2024 in Brownsville, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
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Key Facts
The cuts, most of which were a result of the Department of Government Efficiency’s work, will reduce the federal workforce from 2.4 million to 2.1 million employees by the end of 2025, Office of Personnel Management director Scott Kupor told The New York Times.
Kupor told the paper he doesn’t expect any significant new layoff announcements by the end of the year and that most of the employees cut had already stopped working, though some still remained on the payroll.
The bulk of the severed employees—80%—represent those who left voluntarily, while the other 20% were fired, Kupor told Reuters previously.
Big Number
5.9%. That’s the government-wide attrition rate in fiscal year 2023, according to the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, less than half the number of federal workers that will be cut in 2024.
Which Agencies Were Cut Most?
The U.S. Agency for International Development was dismantled entirely, a reduction of 10,000 total employees, according to a CNN tracker of the Trump administration’s cuts as of July. About 20,000 employees at the Department of Health and Human Services have been cut or accepted buyouts, representing about 24% of total staff, according to a New York Times tracker last updated in May. The Food and Drug Administration has slashed about 3,500 employees, 16.7% of staff, from its payroll, according to CNN.
Key Background
Trump assigned Elon Musk to lead the Department of Government Efficiency charged with identifying agencies where workers should be cut, leading to bipartsian backlash that the so-called reductions in force were haphazard or insensitive. While Trump said the cuts were designed to target government waste and bloat, critics argued they depleted some agencies of expertise and threatened key government services. Most of the terminated employees are what’s known as “probationary” workers, or newly hired staff whose permanent employment is contingent on a preliminary review during the probationary period. Many of the firings have faced legal action from individual employees, advocacy groups, unions and some city governments to block the terminations, though the Supreme Court ruled in July the bulk of the terminations could proceed.
Further Reading
Trump Administration Lays Off Hundreds Of Voice Of America Workers (Forbes)
Supreme Court Clears The Way For Mass Federal Layoffs. What It Means For Workers Now (Forbes)