President Trump has announced that he will shrink the U.S. Federal Government, the largest employer in the country. He claims this move will reduce wasteful expenditures and make civil servants more responsive to the administration.
Mr. Trump described federal government as being “bloated” with “people who are unnecessary.” The federal government, like all large, complex organizations, has its inefficiencies. However, experts point out that since 1980 the workforce of the federal government has barely grown. This includes the Veterans Health Administration, the FAA, and other agencies.
CBS MoneyWatch reported that “there’s no indication” that the federal government is bloated, in terms of the number of workers. This number hasn’t changed much over the years. The problem that we faced over the last decades was not bloat but vacancies.
Here’s what you need to know about federal workers and the impact of reducing government on Americans.
What is Trump and Musk doing about the federal workforce?
In collaboration with Elon Musk, Trump offered to give more than 2,000,000 federal employees a ” Deferred Resignation plan that would pay them through the end September while they were not working in exchange for their agreement to step down. On Tuesday , a federal judge cleared the program for its continuation after it was paused.
The Trump administration announced that the program of deferred resignation had been closed at 7 pm on February 12. This offer does not apply to members of the military, U.S. Postal Service employees, as well as those in jobs related immigration enforcement or national security.
In a second move to reshape the federal workforce Mr. Trump signed this week an Executive Order aimed at reducing the number of employees in the government and limiting hiring.
Does the federal workforce grow?
Some policy experts have noted that as Mr. Trump or Musk push forward, the federal workforce is smaller in relation to the U.S.’s population than it was during previous decades. According to new research by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, there are fewer federal workers who provide services to a greater number of Americans than they did in previous years.
Over the years the federal workforce has fluctuated in size, but it is now the same as when the U.S. was around 220 million people. There are currently more than 330 millions U.S. citizens.
What is the size of the federal workforce
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are more than 2,4 million federal employees in the United States. data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that more than 2.4 million federal workers work in the U.S. As a self funded agency, USPS relies heavily on the sales of stamps as well as other products and services in order to fund its operations.
In a report published on Jan. 28, , Elaine Kamarck noted that the federal workforce was slightly smaller 50 years ago despite the fact that the U.S. had grown by two thirds in this time. She managed the National Performance Review of the Clinton Administration, which was an attempt to reduce government spending during the 1990s.
According to CEPR analysis, in the 1940s the federal workforce represented 4,5% of all non-farm workers. Today, that share has dropped to just 1.5%.
How efficient is federal employment?
Linos, of Harvard Kennedy School, noted that there is no overall measure of efficiency for the federal workforce. However, agencies review their own operation to identify any gaps that may affect their ability provide services.
She added that the efficiency of federal workers should be judged by whether they are providing services to which they have been assigned. Many agencies have used data-driven measures to measure whether they’re providing services to Americans.
In its most recent Annual Performance Report, for example, the Social Security Administration identified long hold times as a problem area. It added that they would like to reduce the average wait time to 12 minutes from 34 minutes for fiscal year 2020. The report said that this “aspirational” goal was being evaluated in the context of a hiring freeze.
Martin O’Malley, the former Social Security commissioner, said during a November congressional hearing that the Social Security Administration is operating with its smallest workforce in 50 years.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office reported that fraud costs the U.S. Government $521 billion per year, or 8% of all federal spending.
Federal spending also has ballooned in recent years, although much of the increase is due to higher spending on Social Security and paying interest on federal debt, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Which agencies employ the most federal employees?
According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the Department of Veterans Affairs employs the most federal employees with over 487,000. The Department of Homeland Security is next, with over 222,000 employees, followed by the U.S. Army with 221,000 workers.
Trump has targeted some agencies that are small in comparison. The president, for example, is considering an order to dissolve the U.S. Department of Education which employs about 4,200 people.
What is the geographical distribution of federal employees?
According to a report by the Congressional Research Service from 2024, only 7% of federal employees are located in Washington, D.C. When Virginia and Maryland are included, the Washington, D.C. metro area accounts for about 20% of all government workers.
The CRS report stated that 80% of federal employees work outside Washington, D.C., and civil servants are employed in all 50 states.
California, Texas and Washington, D.C., have the most federal workers, with a total of 162,000.
The analysis also found that Florida has a large federal workforce, with 94,000 federal employees, and Georgia with almost 80,000.
What is the average federal employee’s salary?
Pew Research Center, citing OPM statistics, found that the average federal worker’s annual salary is over $106,000.
The salaries of federal workers are often in the six-figure range because they have advanced degrees and are highly qualified. Most federal employees are in the medical field, such as doctors and nurses working for the VA.
Some professionals, such as accountants or attorneys, could earn more by working for private employers. Commodity Future Trading Commission pays their employees $235,910 on average. Pew’s research shows that about 40% of the workforce is made up of lawyers.
What could be the impact of a smaller federal workforce on Americans?
Harvard’s Linos warned that services could be affected if federal employees are reduced or quit in sufficient numbers. Americans still expect to receive a certain standard of service. For example, they would expect their benefits to be paid on time and to get a passport in a timely manner.
She added that the federal government can turn to contractors in the private sector to help fill the gap. She noted that this is more expensive, as you pay a higher salary to workers in the private sector with less accountability.
Linos said that a cut to federal services could increase negative public perception. According to Pew Research Center, public trust in federal government has been declining for decades. It went from 77% in 1960 who trusted the government to do the right thing to 22% in today’s time.
She said: “We tell the people that the government’s bloated and the daily experience gets worse. This feeds the narrative of the government being useless.”
