Federal employment has fallen by 277,000 under Trump

Washington Examiner ^ | 1/10/26 | Joseph Lawler

[cotton1706]

The number of employees on the federal government’s payroll has dropped by 277,000 since President Donald Trump took office for his second term, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

The agency said in its monthly jobs report that federal employment was 2.738 million in November, adjusted for seasonal variations, down from 3.015 million in January.

President Donald Trump and the White House have touted the drop in federal workers as an accomplishment.

The big decline in federal payrolls came in October, with the end of the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program. In early 2025, via an email titled “fork in the road,” the administration offered to allow workers to resign and then pay them through the end of September. When that program ended at the end of the month, 179,000 workers dropped off the payrolls, according to the BLS’s count. Altogether, more than 320,000 workers have been separated from the federal government since Trump took office, while more than 100,000 have joined, according to the Office of Personnel Management. The Department of War has seen the most employees leave.

Trump came into office pledging to shrink the federal workforce, especially by getting rid of civilian employees who he saw as thwarting his agenda in his first term. He campaigned on eliminating a number of agencies and downsizing the government.

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TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government
KEYWORDS:

[cotton1706]

That's a full 10%.

Major, major accomplishment.

We've heard many a politician claim they want to shrink the size of government, but it's never happened.

Actually reducing personnel is how it's done.

[ComputerGuy]

I’d call that a good start. Keep it up!

[Blennos]

My dream is that, someday, the IRS would be cut to zero.

And the EPA reduced by 90%. Leave a few there to make sure the washing machine never uses enough water to actually clean the clothes.

[dennisw]

At least 70% of these useless quit to start collecting their Federal pensions. So they are still feeding at the Federal trough.
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You can begin collecting your full Federal pension without reduction at the first of the following:

Age 62 with at least 5 years of service

Age 60 with at least 20 years of service

Minimum Retirement Age (MRA) with at least 30 years of service

🔹 What is Minimum Retirement Age (MRA)?
Your MRA ranges from 55 to 57, depending on your birth year — most people born from 1953–1964 have an MRA of 56, and those born in 1970 or later have an MRA of 57

[cp124]

They were so important that you don’t notice a thing.

[DAC21]

Wondering who the heck the 100k new hires are?

[rxh4n1]

Look at it this way. It might be cheaper to pay them to go away rather than let them stay on and do more damage.

[Sirius Lee]

Wondering who the heck the 100k new hires are?

I hope the new hires are all ICE and CBP.

[maddog55]

Still 2 million to high. Actually I think government could run better if they got rid of another million.

[XRdsRev]

I also didn’t notice that my cardiologist quit his practice until I actually needed to get an appointment with him.

People don’t notice gaps in capabilities or personnel until they need to utilize those capabilities and personnel. Ask American soybean farmers about what it meant to them that USAID got cut. Probably most didn’t care until harvest time hit and the soybean market tanked completely and farmers were left with crops that could only be sold at a loss. Mostly because those bureaucrats that engineered soybean sales overseas and as part of foreign aid, had been let go or forced to retire.

[quantim]

Get rid of another million bureaucrats, that would be progress. You hear how great AI is multiple times a day, that alone should replace 1/2 of gummit bloodsuckers.

You’ll never see it though.

[Mlheureux]

Could lose another million with no problem.

[nwrep]

You are not allowed to say anything good about the federal government here.

[Psalm 73]

"I’d call that a good start. Keep it up!"

We sometimes forget he's only been in office for a year - 75% more time left to get stuff done!

[TheThirdRuffian]

Maybe they should grow crops it doesn’t take the gubmint to unload.

I raise beef cows and, have over 1280 acres where I grow pecans and pistachios.

The gubmint does nothing but try to periodically steal my water we’ve carefully managed over 100 years now. This year, the Coast Guard (in New Mexico), in fact, tried to knock down a “new” dam that is exactly how it has been since 1890.

Oh, or they claim my wife can’t graze cattle on property that is Mescalero Apache property without permission from the Apaches and sent us a $100,000 fine. She not only had permission; she IS Apache, and we live all over 100 yards off the reservation. All her cowboys ARE Apache. The BIA was “kind” enough to “waive our fine” for their complete and utter ignorance and incompetence. They never admitted they were just stupid and wrong.

[ComputerGuy]

Illegal aliens and government employees...

[EVO X]

The local university was going to shutdown their soybean center because of USAID cuts. I believe they found other sources of funding to keep it open or partially staffed..

[PubliusMM]

It’s a start...still more to do.

[trebb]

But the federal pensions (unless you’re a politician) are only a fraction of what their actual pay was...still saving money when they’re gone from being “active”.

[AppyPappy]

I wonder if any of these were unfilled positions. I know the IRS is been seriously understaffed. Our church has been sending amended returns almost every month trying to get them noticed.