WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk are undertaking a sweeping campaign to slash the size of the 2.3 million-strong civilian federal workforce, firing or offering buyouts so far to more than 100,000 employees.
The layoffs to date have primarily been aimed at workers who have been in their current jobs for less than a year and have fewer job protections than longer-tenured staffers.
But a new wave of cuts targeting career government workers has begun and will intensify after Trump ordered federal agencies on February 26 to submit plans for large-scale layoffs by March 13.
The Trump administration has yet to give a total number for how many people it has fired.
Here are details on some of the layoffs at federal departments and agencies gleaned by Reuters reporters so far.
VETERANS AFFAIRS
The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning to cut more than 80,000 workers from the agency, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.
The VA’s chief of staff, Christopher Syrek, sent the memo to senior agency officials, telling them the goal was to return the agency to 2019 staffing levels of just under 400,000. That would mean cutting about 82,000 staff.
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
The Pentagon says it will cut 5,400 jobs. The cuts are a fraction of the 50,000 job losses that some had anticipated, but they might not be the last.
Darin Selnick, a top Pentagon official, said the agency will implement a hiring freeze and could ultimately reduce its 950,000-strong civilian workforce by 5 per cent to 8 per cent.
USAID
The US Agency for International Development, which oversees the delivery of American humanitarian assistance, has said that all direct hires except essential workers will be put on leave and 1,600 USAID personnel in the US will be cut.
INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
The Internal Revenue Service has started the process of firing about 12,000 employees, largely affecting workers hired under the Biden administration as part of an effort to target fraud among wealthy taxpayers.
Republicans opposed the expansion, arguing it would lead to harassment of ordinary Americans.
Overall, the tax-collecting agency has about 100,000 employees.
The 12,000 cuts include roughly 7,000 probationary employees and 5,000 workers who have accepted a buyout program, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency has fired a slew of recent hires, three people familiar with the matter said, cuts that current and former US intelligence officers warned would risk damaging US national security. Reuters could not determine the exact number.
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
At least 75 career Justice Department lawyers and FBI officials, who normally keep their roles from administration to administration, have either resigned, been fired or stripped of their posts in the first weeks of the Trump administration.
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Around 2,300 workers were laid off from the Interior Department, sources said, including about 800 people from the Bureau of Land Management, which manages millions of federally owned acres for uses ranging from oil and gas development to timber harvesting, recreation and cultural preservation.
Overall, the department employs more than 70,000 people and oversees 500 million acres (202.3 million hectares) of public lands, including dozens of national parks.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
The US Forest Service, a division of the Agriculture Department which manages millions of acres of national forests and grasslands, is firing 3,400 probationary employees, equal to 10 per cent of its workforce, people familiar with the plans said.
The Department of Agriculture said it accidentally fired several employees working on the federal government’s response to the H5N1 avian flu outbreak and that it was attempting to rescind those layoffs.
Workers at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, which supports agricultural science and technology research, and the Economic Research Service, which produces reports and data on the farm economy, have also been fired, sources said.
The extent of layoffs across the Agriculture Department, which employs nearly 100,000 people, remained unclear.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
The Trump administration has asked US missions worldwide to prepare for staff cuts as part of an overhaul of the US diplomatic corps.
Trump says he wants a workforce that will not dither in implementing his policies.
Some embassies had been asked to look into reducing both US staff as well as locally employed staff by 10 per cent each.
Already, dozens of contractors working at various State Department bureaus have been laid off.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
The Associated Press reported that nearly 1,300 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff members had been fired, comprising one-tenth of the agency’s workforce.
At the National Institutes of Health, 1,165 people, mostly probationary employees, were laid off, according to an internal email seen by Reuters.
The Food and Drug Administration, which reviews drugs, food safety, medical devices and tobacco, is planning to rehire around 300 people, representing about one-third of the 1,000 FDA workers who have been fired as part of the government cuts.
Overall, the FDA has around 20,000 workers.
The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC, NIH and the FDA, as well as Medicare and Medicaid, has more than 80,000 employees. Around 5,200 employees have lost their jobs, STAT News reported.
SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
The Social Security Administration, the agency which provides benefits to tens of millions of older Americans and those with disabilities, plans to cut 7,000 workers, reducing its workforce by more than 12 percent.
NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the agency that provides the US government’s weather forecasts, is planning layoffs of 1,029 workers, its second round of cuts.
NOAA has already cut 1,300 employees through the mass firing of probationary workers and a voluntary buyout program.
In addition to everyday forecasting, NOAA – which houses the National Weather Service, the National Hurricane Center and two tsunami warning centers – provides crucial information to help Americans survive weather emergencies.
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
About 700 workers have been laid off at the Department of Energy, the agency said.
Sources have told Reuters that as many as 2,000 workers have been informed they were being laid off and that managers were told to provide evidence for why some of those should be re-hired.
On February 14, sources said 325 workers had been sent notice that they had been laid off from the National Nuclear Security Administration, an Energy Department office that manages the US nuclear weapons arsenal and secures dangerous nuclear materials around the world.
But after a public uproar and a scramble by the administration to hire back some of these employees, fewer than 50 workers from the agency were ultimately purged, the Energy Department said.
Overall, the Energy Department has about 14,000 employees and 95,000 contractors.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
The Environmental Protection Agency, which enforces laws like the Clean Air Act and works to protect the environment, has fired 388 probationary employees.
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The agency has also placed on leave nearly 200 employees who work on environmental justice programs. The White House has said the EPA plans to cut its spending by 65 per cent.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
The FAA fired more than 300 employees out of its workforce of 45,000, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on X, as questions rise around air traffic safety amid a spate of recent plane accidents.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
At least 160 recent hires at the Department of Education have been notified of their termination, according to a letter seen by Reuters.
Trump has called for the dissolution of the entire department and its 4,400 employees, though Congress would need to approve.
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While local and state governments hold sway over most educational issues in the United States, the federal department provides billions of dollars in student loans and grants for higher education as well as funding for students with disabilities and economically disadvantaged students.
The department also enforces civil rights laws.
COMPTROLLER OF THE CURRENCY
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the regulator charged with monitoring large national banks, told staff it was firing 76 probationary employees. In 2024, the OCC reported 3,630 full-time employees, according to its website.
CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU
The independent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is responsible for consumer protection against banks, debt collectors and other companies in the financial sector, has been largely shuttered after the Trump administration ordered it to halt all activity.
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Roughly 140 to 200 of the agency’s probationary and so-called term employees have been fired, people familiar with the matter said.
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
Career employees at the General Services Administration have begun to receive termination notices and the GSA is expected to shutter many regional offices.
GSA leaders have told staff that total spending is expected to be cut across all programs by about 50%, according to an email seen by Reuters.
The independent agency, which manages the government’s real estate portfolio and oversees most government contracts, has more than 12,000 workers.
OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
All probationary employees at the Office of Personnel Management, which handles human resources for the US government, were fired in a group call that included around 100 people, sources said.
OPM has also started to fire career staff, eliminating its entire procurement team and gutting a group overseeing the handling of sensitive employee data within the agency, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration laid off 4 per cent of its staff, a spokesperson said. Under former President Joe Biden, the agency grew by 30 per cent and remains considerably larger after the cuts.
Its workforce was about 800 before the job cuts.
SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
At least 45 probationary employees at the Small Business Administration were fired in a letter seen by Reuters.
The agency, which employs several thousand people, provides support for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
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