Before returning to the White House, President Trump campaigned on his America First agenda. He’s come through on *** lot of his campaign promises. The other side of the aisle would say that is horrible. Starting with immigration, we’re going to have the largest. Deportation of criminals in history. In 2025, the Department of Homeland Security reports its enforcement operation led to the arrest of more than 595,000 undocumented immigrants, more than all four years of the Biden administration combined. This is one where I think *** lot of Trump supporters are like, yes, this is exactly what we were looking for. We’re going to tariff the hell out of countries that have been taking advantage of us. And stealing our jobs. The president also slapped tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico, just to name *** few. The Supreme Court is now deciding whether most of those policies are constitutional. In some industries, it has in fact contributed to ongoing inflation and and in some places it may eventually help American manufacturers, but right now it’s ***, it’s *** pretty chaotic picture. Putting pen to paper, President Trump signed his so-called One Big Beautiful bill, including key pieces of his domestic agenda from various tax breaks, funds towards border and national security, and rolling back green energy investments. Wages have been somewhat stagnant. Job growth hasn’t been as pronounced as he would have liked, and of course prices are very high. Inflation remains *** problem throughout the. Past year, the president’s been largely focusing on international conflicts, *** major rebrand for his America First agenda. Well, that is actually one of the biggest things that shows up in the polling and in people’s remarks about him. They don’t like the fact that he’s spending all this time on foreign affairs, from meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, bringing back hostages from Gaza, capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. and bombing Iran, voters will show how they feel come November. Donald Trump has fallen through on *** lot of promises. He has kept some, but it’s going to be up to the voters to decide whether or not he’s doing *** good job. The administration has been recently shifting its focus to the economy, which the president claims is surging despite concerns about higher prices. In Washington, I’m Rachel Hirsheimer.
DOGE, layoffs, buyouts: How President Trump changed the federal workforce
Updated: 8:34 AM PST Jan 20, 2026
Before President Donald Trump began his second administration, he vowed to reduce federal bureaucracy. Trump marks his first year back in the White House on Tuesday, during which 322,049 federal government employees have exited the workforce. It is the largest reduction of the federal workforce in the past two decades, according to data from the Office of Personnel Management. The federal government had 2.31 million employees at the end of the 2024 fiscal year, the highest number of federal employees over the past two decades. Now, the government employs 2.08 million people, about 10% less than it did in 2024 when former President Joe Biden was in office. Trump set out to complete his campaign promise on Day 1, signing an executive order creating the Department of Government Efficiency. Guided by Elon Musk, DOGE was tasked with cutting jobs to make the government more efficient. Soon after, Trump signed other executive actions to help federal departments downsize their workforces by offering buyouts, changing hiring practices, eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion offices, implementing reductions in force, and more. Federal employees received an email on Jan. 28, 2025, with the subject line “The Fork in the Road.” In the email, the Office of Personnel Management offered federal employees eight months of pay and benefits through September 2025 if they resigned from their positions. About 149,500 employees resigned from office, making up nearly half of the departures in the first year of this administration.The other top reasons for employee departures were retirement and RIFs (reductions in force); 105,900 employees retired and 10,500 were laid off. While 322,000 federal employees exited the workforce, the Trump administration hired 68,000 new employees. The Department of Defense had the highest number of employees resign and retire. Roughly 44,500 workers chose to part ways, and nearly 31,700 retired. The Department of Veteran Affairs had the second highest in both categories, with 24,700 employees choosing to resign and 15,100 retiring. Both departments account for the highest number of employees making up the federal workforce. Together, both agencies account for 54% of the workforce. Last March, the Department of Health and Human Services announced it would reduce its workforce from 82,000 full-time employees to 62,000. HHS carried out 4,437 RIFs, the most of all the departments. The U.S. Agency for International Development had the second highest with 3,677 RIFs, but USAID was the agency with the highest overall percentage decrease, seeing a reduction of its workforce by 92%. The agency went from 4,800 employees in 2024 to now having 378 employees.The only other department with a higher overall percentage reduction of its workforce was the Department of Education. Back in March, Trump signed an executive order to dismantle the department. The agency downsized from 4,209 full-time positions to roughly 2,500 from 2024 to 2026. Its Federal Student Aid unit lost 660 employees, the most of the department’s subagency. Other subagencies that saw large reductions were the Internal Revenue Service, which lost 19,200 employees, and the Veterans Health Administration, which downsized by 25,000 jobs. Use the Get the Facts Data Team’s tool below to see the breakdown of departments and their subagencies’ change in workforce. PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4=
Before President Donald Trump began his second administration, he vowed to reduce federal bureaucracy. Trump marks his first year back in the White House on Tuesday, during which 322,049 federal government employees have exited the workforce.
It is the largest reduction of the federal workforce in the past two decades, according to data from the Office of Personnel Management.
The federal government had 2.31 million employees at the end of the 2024 fiscal year, the highest number of federal employees over the past two decades. Now, the government employs 2.08 million people, about 10% less than it did in 2024 when former President Joe Biden was in office.
Trump set out to complete his campaign promise on Day 1, signing an executive order creating the Department of Government Efficiency. Guided by Elon Musk, DOGE was tasked with cutting jobs to make the government more efficient.
Soon after, Trump signed other executive actions to help federal departments downsize their workforces by offering buyouts, changing hiring practices, eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion offices, implementing reductions in force, and more.
Federal employees received an email on Jan. 28, 2025, with the subject line “The Fork in the Road.” In the email, the Office of Personnel Management offered federal employees eight months of pay and benefits through September 2025 if they resigned from their positions.
About 149,500 employees resigned from office, making up nearly half of the departures in the first year of this administration.
The other top reasons for employee departures were retirement and RIFs (reductions in force); 105,900 employees retired and 10,500 were laid off. While 322,000 federal employees exited the workforce, the Trump administration hired 68,000 new employees.
The Department of Defense had the highest number of employees resign and retire. Roughly 44,500 workers chose to part ways, and nearly 31,700 retired.
The Department of Veteran Affairs had the second highest in both categories, with 24,700 employees choosing to resign and 15,100 retiring.
Both departments account for the highest number of employees making up the federal workforce. Together, both agencies account for 54% of the workforce.
Last March, the Department of Health and Human Services announced it would reduce its workforce from 82,000 full-time employees to 62,000. HHS carried out 4,437 RIFs, the most of all the departments.
The U.S. Agency for International Development had the second highest with 3,677 RIFs, but USAID was the agency with the highest overall percentage decrease, seeing a reduction of its workforce by 92%. The agency went from 4,800 employees in 2024 to now having 378 employees.
The only other department with a higher overall percentage reduction of its workforce was the Department of Education. Back in March, Trump signed an executive order to dismantle the department.
The agency downsized from 4,209 full-time positions to roughly 2,500 from 2024 to 2026. Its Federal Student Aid unit lost 660 employees, the most of the department’s subagency.
Other subagencies that saw large reductions were the Internal Revenue Service, which lost 19,200 employees, and the Veterans Health Administration, which downsized by 25,000 jobs.
Use the Get the Facts Data Team’s tool below to see the breakdown of departments and their subagencies’ change in workforce.