Tens of thousands of civilian federal workers were released, forgiven or resigned as part of the main initiative of reducing the government led by Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, since the beginning of the second term of Donald Trump. The Ministry of Government efficiency, created by an executive order, aggressively promoted a reduction in employees.
Currently, confirmed release and purchase could affect at least 12% of 2.4 million civilian federal employees and the number is likely to grow as more agencies will be completed, which would be reported on the New York Times report.
The overall reduction of federal workforce
Confirmed layoffs: More than 55,000 federal employees were officially released.
Voluntary Purchase: Approximately 76,000 employees accepted the purchase offering.
Planned reduction: Another 145,000 positions are planned for elimination.
Impact specific to the separation
Ministry of Defense (DOD)
The announcement of plans to end up to 61,000 civilian employees, starting with 5,400 test employees.
Interior department
Approximately 2,300 employees were released, of which 800 were from the Land Administration Office.
Service National Park: About 1,000 employees, including maintenance and scientists, were released and worried about park operation.
The Ministry for Veterans (VA) matters (VA)
More than 1,000 test employees, including scientists in the field of mental health and prosthetics, were terminated.
Ministry of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Approximately 5,200 test employees received an end notice, with significant cuts on CDC and NIH.
The administration also ended dozens of research workers in the front research center Alzheimer’s disease under Nih.
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
During the maximum tax season, 6,000 to 7,000 test employees were released, which potentially influenced the processing and recovery of the tax return.
Some agencies, such as the US Agency for International Development and Voice of America, lost more than 99% of their workforce. Others, including americorps (93% reduction) and the Consumer Protection Authority (85% cut), were almost completely gutted.
Reaction and criticism of the public
A recent survey by Washington Post-ABC News-DIPSOS suggests that nearly 60% of Americans believe that the release of Trump’s administration has gone too far.
Elon Musk, Head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has become a polarization character and the evaluation of disagreement increased to 57%.
Implementation strategy
Administration has used several strategies to reduce labor:
Executive orders: January 28, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order to remove the protection of the State Service for thousands of federal employees, which facilitated their release without standard procedural guarantees.
Delayed resignation program: Administration introduced the “postponed responsibility” initiative, which was accepted by approximately 75,000 federal workers by mid -February, which effectively streamlined the reduction of labor.
Focusing on test employees for trial periods: The Directive ordered the termination of test employees – those with less than a year in their current roles – which did not acquire insufficient performance, often without substantial evidence.
Agencies’ closure and reduction: significant cuts were carried out in various agencies, including the US Agency for International Development and the Consumer Protection Office, with some entities almost facing employees.
Reducing valid (RIF): Agencies have been instructed to submit plans to reduce labor.
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Legal challenges and renewal
The sweeping of the release has provoked several legal challenges. Thousands of test employees were originally burned in February after lower court orders. However, at the beginning of April, the US Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal enabled Trump’s administration to continue to block the decisions of the lower courts and limit the renewal.
Many detonated workers were included on a paid administrative holiday while the judicial battles continue.
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