Federal Layoffs
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Elena Shao and
April 21, 2025: Layoffs hit the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, AmeriCorps and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness last week. A State Department office that tracked foreign disinformation was also shut down.
*Some of these employees have been temporarily reinstated, following court orders.
Tens of thousands of employees across the federal government have left their jobs, been put on leave or been fired as a part of the government-gutting initiative of the Trump administration and billionaire Elon Musk. Federal agencies have been directed to make plans to reduce their work forces even further.
Note: Offices or agencies with less than 200 employees at the beginning of the year are not shown here.
Based on the latest available information, reductions could affect at least 12 percent of the 2.4 million civilian federal workers — a number that could grow as more of the agencies’ plans come into focus.
The so-called Department of Government Efficiency — created by executive order — has circumvented a Republican-controlled Congress, which has chosen not to check its authority. Still, it has been subject to frequent legal challenges. Thousands of those fired were reinstated in February, following court orders. But two decisions in early April from the Supreme Court and an appeals court sided with the Trump administration to block the lower court rulings reinstating fired probationary workers.
No official tally of cuts to the federal work force exists. Here are the layoffs, buyouts taken and planned reductions, by agency, that The New York Times has confirmed through verified sources within federal agencies, court filings and press and public statements.
Reduction so far: 6%
*Most have been reinstated and put on paid administrative leave.
Reduction so far: 93%
Total planned reduction: 93%
Reduction so far: 11%
Total planned reduction: 19%
Reduction so far: 85%
Total planned reduction: 85%
*Most employees have been placed on administrative leave, pending court cases.
Reduction so far: 2%
Total planned reduction: 6%
*Includes four senior officials and top lawyers for the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Reduction so far: 46%
Total planned reduction: 46%
*Sixty-five probationary workers have been reinstated and put on paid administrative leave.
Reduction so far: 13%
*About 550 probationary workers have been reinstated and put on paid leave.
Reduction so far: 3%
Total planned reduction: 10%
*About 420 probationary workers have been reinstated and put on paid administrative leave.
Reduction so far: 10%
*Most have been reinstated and put on paid administrative leave.
Reduction so far: 3%
*Most have been reinstated and put on paid administrative leave.
Reduction so far: 24%
Total planned reduction: 24%
*Some 2,500 probationary workers have been reinstated and put on paid administrative leave.
Reduction so far: More than 99%
*The administration shut down the entire civil rights branch alongside two ombudsman offices.
Reduction so far: More than 99%
Reduction so far: 4%
Reduction so far: Less than 1%
*Most have been contacted for reinstatement.
Reduction so far: 4%
Total planned reduction: 14%
*Most are in the process of getting reinstated and put on paid administrative leave.
Reduction so far: More than 99%
Total planned reduction: More than 99%
Reduction so far: 4%
*About 450 are back at work, and most of the rest have been reinstated and put on administrative leave.
Reduction so far: Less than 1%
*Includes more than two dozen prosecutors who worked either for the special counsel who prosecuted Mr. Trump or on cases related to Jan. 6; more than 20 immigration judges; and nine high-ranking F.B.I. officials.
Reduction so far: 1%
*Most have been reinstated and are back at work.
Reduction so far: Less than 1%
Reduction so far: 78%
Total planned reduction: 78%
Reduction so far: 10%
*Half of the fired employees were quickly rehired.
Agency size is not known
*These aides were sent home.
Reduction so far: 5%
Total planned reduction: 46%
*Most have been reinstated and put on paid administrative leave.
Reduction so far: 5%
Total planned reduction: 17%
Reduction so far: 1%
Reduction so far: 1%
*Most have been reinstated and are back at work.
Reduction so far: 13%
Total planned reduction: 25%
*All employees will be reinstated and placed on paid leave.
*Most have been reinstated and put on paid administrative leave.
Reduction so far: More than 99%
Total planned reduction: More than 99%
*A federal judge has temporarily halted the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the group.
Reduction so far: More than 99%
Total planned reduction: More than 99%
*The State Department said it would reduce the staff to some 15 positions.
Reduction so far: More than 99%
Total planned reduction: More than 99%
Reduction so far: Less than 1%
Total planned reduction: 17%
*Most have been reinstated and are in the process of returning to work.
Notes and Methodology
The figures above are most likely an undercount. Agencies that have let go of an unspecified number of employees are not reflected here.
Outside of the general effort to shrink the size of the federal work force and gut diversity, equity and inclusion programs, Mr. Trump has also targeted specific individuals at a number of independent agencies, many of which are also not reflected here.
Most federal agencies have not made verified numbers public, and no centralized database of confirmed figures exists. As a result, The New York Times compiled data from sources within the federal agencies, court documents and press statements.
Confirmed cuts: The number of federal workers who have been sent termination notices, fired, laid off, placed on administrative leave, sent home or who were told to halt work, regardless of subsequent reinstatements because of court order or agency reversals.
Confirmed buyouts: In February, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management said that about 75,000 workers across departments had accepted deferred resignation offers. Another round of buyout offers was sent to employees in several departments in April. Confirmed buyouts by agency are shown only when known, and may not reflect the total displayed in the summary figures.
More planned reductions: Can include a combination of buyouts, firings and layoffs. In some cases, the breakdown between the three categories was not specified.
To determine the amount of the proposed reduction in each agency or subagency’s work force, The Times compiled these numbers into a database alongside data on agency size, as of September 2024, from the O.P.M. database on federal employment. More recent numbers on agency sizes were used where available.
The Times would like to hear about your experience as a federal worker under the second Trump administration. We may reach out about your submission, but we will not publish any part of your response without contacting you first.
Amy Schoenfeld Walker, June Kim and Sarah Cahalan contributed reporting.
An earlier version of this article misclassified the U.S. Institute of Peace. It is a nonprofit organization, not a federal agency. Its inclusion increased the total number of confirmed job cuts by 200. The earlier version also misstated the name of a federal agency. It is the Institute of Museum and Library Services, not the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences.
Government Workers and Politics: A reinterpretation of the Hatch Act announced by the administration lets officials wear campaign paraphernalia like MAGA hats, and removes an independent board’s role in policing violations.
Union Protections for Federal Workers: A federal judge blocked President Trump from ending collective bargaining with unions representing federal workers.
Government-Issued Phones and Computers: Staff members being fired from the U.S. Agency for International Development will be able to keep their government-issued electronic devices when it closes its doors, according to an internal email, copies of which were shared with The Times.
What’s Not in Musk’s Budget: An expert on the federal work force estimates that the speed and chaos of Elon Musk’s cuts to the bureaucracy will cost taxpayers $135 billion this fiscal year.
Child Health Experts With Diversity Roles: The Environmental Protection Agency has informed employees who are experts in children’s health that they will be fired or reassigned because their job descriptions include work on environmental justice or diversity, equity and inclusion, an agency spokeswoman has confirmed.
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The Federal Work Force Cuts So Far, Agency by Agency – The New York Times
