Tens of thousands of US federal employees could lose their jobs after the Trump administration moves and dramatically reduces the size of federal workers.
With Elon Musk at the helm of the so-called “Doctor of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), the White House, which oversees efforts to approve federal employment, has embarked on multiple plans to cut almost every sector of federal employment. There is no formula for the number of federal employees. While much of Donald Trump and Musk’s efforts have stagnated in court, the impact could be huge and long-lasting.
To understand what the cuts do for federal businesses, you first need to understand who is working for the federal government and what they do. Here’s what we know about the federal workforce:
How big is federal workers?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the Bureau of Labor Data, the Bureau of Labor has around 3 million federal employees, about 2% of the total US workforce.
Much of the federal workforce is the leaders that make up the president’s cabinet and falls into the enforcement division. The Department of Defense is the largest employer with the US military, including the Army, Navy and Air Force, with over 750,000 employees. The figures include the civil labor force within the Department of Defense. 1.3 million active US military personnel have been added to count federal labor without BLS.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is the next largest employer with approximately 480,000 employees.
The number of federal workers has changed little over the past 50 years, with the exception of every 10 years, with the exception of influx of employees working in the US Census.
What is the demographics of the federal workforce?
Compared to the overall employed workforce, federal workers distort slightly older people. Over 50% of federal workers exceed 45, compared to 43% of the total workforce.
Meanwhile, the racial demographics of the federal workforce primarily reflect the demographics of the nation-wide with one important exception. The federal government has a higher proportion of black employees than the private sector.
This is likely that the federal government has implemented the law to prevent bias in workplace employment after the civil rights era and allow more black workers to enter federal workers.
In January, Donald Trump signed two drastic executive orders within the federal government to end the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) program. He overturned several executive orders, including those from the civil rights era, which required private contractors to practice equal employment opportunities when they were hired.
Federal layoffs are separate from Trump’s DEI actions, but both cover dramatic efforts from the Trump administration to reduce the federal government’s role as an employer.
Where do federal workers live?
It is a common misconception that most federal workers live in Washington, D.C. Federal workers make up a large part of Washington’s population, but the majority of federal workers live in other states around the country. They range from rangers in Montana’s national parks to Georgia’s infectious disease researchers and doctors working in hospitals run by the Veterans Affairs Division. The USDA alone has over 100,000 employees in 4,500 offices nationwide.
How do federal employees compare to state and local government employees?
Federal government employees make up a small portion of all government employees in the United States. The majority of government workers, about 15 million people, work in local governments, while nearly 6 million people work in the state government.
Local governments manage police and fire departments, parks, recreational and housing services. State governments often work with local governments to help regulate highways and education, among other things.
What about federal contractors?
BLS does not consider federal contractors or people who work for private companies that have contracts to work for the federal government as federal employees. There is no official number of how many private contractors there are for the federal government, but a recent Brookings Agency analysis estimates that there were around 5.2 million private contractor employees in 2023.
What does the Trump administration want to do to federal workers?
Musk is all about saving money, leading the White House efforts and reducing the federal government. Musk said at a Trump campaign event in New York City in October 2024, he wanted to cut the federal government’s budget by just 2tn. Please note that discretionary spending, or the amount under Congress, was 1.7TN in 2023.
In February, Musk said from his oval office: “People voted for a massive government reform.
There are two major initiatives Musk’s Doge is about to implement. The first is to provide federal employees with shopping to voluntarily quit their jobs, and the second is to fire probation employees, or employees who have been working for less than a year and are not in civil service protection.
It is unclear how many employees these initiatives will affect. The White House says that around 75,000 employees have accepted the shopping. This will give workers months of pay and benefits if they leave their job, avoiding what is known as “deferred resignation.” The federal judge temporarily blocked the program. This is something the Trump administration will now have to defend in court.
Meanwhile, layoffs of probation employees appear to have caused disruption in many parts of the federal government. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense all said they have more than 5,000 employees on probation where each could be fired.
The White House said military service members, postal workers and positions related to national security, immigration and public safety will be exempt from the acquisition and layoff program.
