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How the Trump administration’s workforce cuts stack up against federal employment history

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3 months ago

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Given all of the Trump administration’s attempts to overhaul the federal workforce in the last several months, it’s no surprise that the numbers of federal employees working across government have shifted.

The Office of Personnel Management earlier this week published new federal workforce data showing preliminary employee numbers dating to March 2025. The dataset reflects some, but not all, of the workforce changes that took place in the tumultuous first few months of the Trump administration.

The March 2025 data show a roughly 23,700-employee decrease in the overall size of the federal workforce since last September. In a July 1 press release, OPM officials touted the drop as a result of the Trump administration’s reshaping of the federal workforce. The agency said the changes reflect “early efforts to streamline government and eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy.”

It’s too soon to tell how the current administration’s efforts to reduce the federal workforce will impact employment numbers in the long term. But the size of the federal workforce numbers has fluctuated significantly for well over a decade.

Civilian federal workforce size, 2010-2025. (Data source: FedScope, Office of Personnel Management. Chart by Federal News Network)

While the March 2025 data trends do mark a decrease in the size of the workforce since September, the federal workforce a few months ago was still larger than it was a full year prior, according to historical data on FedScope. By the end of March 2025, there were 2,289,472 civilian federal employees — which is 10,742 more employees than there were working for the government in March 2024.

The federal employment decreases shown in the first few months of 2025 came at a time when the first round of the deferred resignation program was still open to feds. Agencies were also in the process of firing many of their probationary employees. And it was a few months into the governmentwide hiring freeze, affecting virtually all agencies’ recruitment numbers.

After all those efforts, OPM’s March 2025 data represent a roughly 1% decrease in the total size of the federal workforce since September — not counting military members or U.S. Postal Service employees.

Still, OPM’s March 2025 numbers don’t paint the full picture of how many employees have already left government. The dataset, for instance, still counts all employees currently on paid administrative leave as part of the federal workforce, including everyone who opted into the DRP. Those employees will remain on the government’s rolls until the end of the fiscal year.

By contrast, in 2023, the federal workforce experienced one of its largest employment surges in recent memory — increasing by nearly 70,000 employees between March and September alone. The increase came in part due to legislation that provided federal funding to hire for key federal roles, including the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

But moving forward, OPM now says it expects “hundreds of thousands more workers” to be moved off the government’s workforce tallies this October, after federal employees who opted into the DRP are officially separated from service.

It’s possible that after some more time, the numbers from those first few months of the administration could shift further. OPM noted that its March 2025 dataset is preliminary, and it’s still working with agencies to review their data submissions and ensure they represent the complete picture of the workforce.

The Trump administration also hopes to see further reductions in the coming months, as it continues to challenge court orders that are keeping onboard many federal employees impacted by reductions in force and probationary terminations.

“The American people deserve a government that is lean, efficient and focused on core priorities,” OPM Acting Director Chuck Ezell said in a statement. “This data marks the first measurable step toward President Trumpʼs vision of a disciplined, accountable federal workforce and itʼs only the beginning.”

OPM is also in the process of updating the FedScope platform overall. The modernization project is expected to be completed this fall.

The post How the Trump administration’s workforce cuts stack up against federal employment history first appeared on Federal News Network.

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Politics

President Trump Taps Dr. Ben Carson for New Role — A HUGE Win for America First Agenda

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23 minutes ago

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September 25, 2025

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Dr. Ben Carson is the newest member of the Trump administration.

On Wednesday, former Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson, was sworn in as the national adviser for nutrition, health, and housing at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins shared that Carson’s role will be to oversee Trump’s new Big Beautiful Bill law, which aims to ensure Americans’ quality of life, from nutrition to stable housing.

After being sworn in, Carson shared, “Today, too many Americans are suffering from the effects of poor nutrition. Through common-sense policymaking, we have an opportunity to give our most vulnerable families the tools they need to flourish.”

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Per USDA:

Today, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced that Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., M.D., was sworn in as the National Advisor for Nutrition, Health, and Housing at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

“There is no one more qualified than Dr. Carson to advise on policies that improve Americans’ everyday quality of life, from nutrition to healthcare quality to ensuring families have access to safe and stable housing,” said Secretary Rollins.

“With six in ten Americans living with at least one chronic disease, and rural communities facing unique challenges with respect to adequate housing, Dr. Carson’s insight and experience is critical. Dr. Carson will be crucial to implementing the rural health investment provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill and advise on America First polices related to nutrition, health, and housing.

“As the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the first Trump Administration, Dr. Carson worked to expand opportunity and strengthen communities, and we are honored to welcome him to the second Trump Administration to help lead our efforts here at USDA to Make America Healthy Again and ensure rural America continues to prosper.”

“Today, too many Americans are suffering from the effects of poor nutrition. Through common-sense policymaking, we have an opportunity to give our most vulnerable families the tools they need to flourish,” said Dr. Ben Carson. “I am honored to work with Secretary Rollins on these important initiatives to help fulfill President Trump’s vision for a healthier, stronger America.”

On Sunday, Dr. Carson was one of the many speakers at the memorial service of the late TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk.

During the memorial service, Carson highlighted that Kirk was shot at 12:24 p.m. and then continued to share the Bible verse John 12:24, which reads, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”

WATCH:

The post President Trump Taps Dr. Ben Carson for New Role — A HUGE Win for America First Agenda appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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LEAKED MEMO: Deep State Prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia Claim There Isn’t Enough Evidence to Convict Comey Amid Reports of Imminent Indictment

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29 minutes ago

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September 25, 2025

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On Wednesday evening, disgruntled officials in the Eastern District of Virginia leaked contents of a memo explaining why charges should not be brought against James Comey.

As reported earlier, former FBI Director James Comey is expected to be indicted in the Eastern District of Virginia in the next few days.

Comey will reportedly be charged for lying to Congress in a 2020 testimony about whether he authorized leaks to the media.

Officials in the Eastern District of Virginia are still fighting to stop Comey from being charged after Trump fired US Attorney Erik Siebert.

President Trump last week fired Erik Siebert as the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia because he refused to bring charges against Letitia James, Comey, Schiff and others.

On Saturday evening, President Trump announced that he had appointed Lindsey Halligan – his personal attorney who defended him against the Mar-a-Lago raid – as US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Now, with just days to go before the statute of limitations runs out to charge Comey for lying during a September 30, 2020 testimony, Lindsey Halligan is reportedly gearing up to indict Comey.

Prosecutors reportedly gave newly sworn-in Halligan a memo defending James Comey and explaining why charges should not brought against the fired FBI Director.

Per MSNBC’s Ken Dilanian:

Two sources familiar with the matter tell me prosecutors in the EDVA US attorney‘s office presented newly sworn US attorney Lindsey Halligan with a memo explaining why charges should not be brought against James Comey, because there isn’t enough evidence to establish probable cause a crime was committed, let alone enough to convince a jury to convict him.

Justice Department guidelines say a case should not be brought unless prosecutors believe it’s more likely than not that they can win a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt.

The post LEAKED MEMO: Deep State Prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia Claim There Isn’t Enough Evidence to Convict Comey Amid Reports of Imminent Indictment appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Nearly 8 in 10 Voters Say the United States is in Political Crisis After the Assassination of Charlie Kirk

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41 minutes ago

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September 25, 2025

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Nearly eight in ten voters believe that the United States is in a political crisis in the wake of the assassination of conservative icon Charlie Kirk.

According to a Quinnipiac University national poll of registered voters released on Wednesday, a massive 93 percent of Democrats, 84 percent of independents, and 60 percent of Republicans said the nation is in a political crisis.

“The Kirk assassination lays bare raw, bipartisan concerns about where the country is headed,” Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy said of the poll results.

Quinnipiac reports:

Seventy-one percent of voters think politically motivated violence in the United States today is a very serious problem, 22 percent think it is a somewhat serious problem, 3 percent think it is a not so serious problem, and 1 percent think it is not a problem at all.

This is a jump from Quinnipiac University’s June 26 poll when 54 percent thought politically motivated violence in the United States today was a very serious problem, 37 percent thought it was a somewhat serious problem, 6 percent thought it was a not so serious problem, and 2 percent thought it was not a problem at all.

Nearly 6 in 10 voters (58 percent) think it will not be possible to lower the temperature on political rhetoric and speech in the United States, while 34 percent think it will be possible.

Over half, 54 percent, of voters believe the US will see increased political violence over the next few years. Another 27 percent said they think it will stay “about the same,” while just 14 percent believe it will ease.

A 53 percent majority also said they are “pessimistic about freedom of speech being protected in the United States.”

Surprisingly, a 53 percent majority also believes the current system of democracy is not working.

“From a perceived assault on freedom of speech to the fragility of the democracy, a shudder of concern and pessimism rattles a broad swath of the electorate. Nearly 80 percent of registered voters feel they are witnessing a political crisis, seven in ten say political violence is a very serious problem, and a majority say this discord won’t go away anytime soon,” Malloy added.

The vast majority, 82 percent, said the way that people discuss politics is contributing to the violence.

“When asked if political discourse is contributing to violence, a rare meeting of the minds…Republicans, Democrats, and independents in equal numbers say yes, it is,” Malloy said.

The survey was conducted from September 18 to 21 among 1,276 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 3.3 percentage points.

The post Nearly 8 in 10 Voters Say the United States is in Political Crisis After the Assassination of Charlie Kirk appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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