The federal workforce shrank by a little more than 10% during the first year of President Donald Trump's second term in the White House, according to the Pew Research Center.
An analysis by the Pew Research Center of newly released government data found that the federal workforce fell by 10.3% in 2025 — a net reduction of nearly 238,000 employees — as the Trump administration moved aggressively to trim what it has long described as an oversized and inefficient bureaucracy.
The decline came as more than 348,000 federal employees quit, retired, were laid off, or otherwise left government service last year, an 80.8% increase from 2024.
At the same time, only about 116,900 people were hired — a 55.6% drop from the previous year.
Overall, the U.S. unemployment rate in 2025 edged up slightly, rising from about 4.1% in February to 4.4% by December, indicating a relatively steady labor market.
The federal reductions were part of a broader push by Trump and his allies to streamline the government and eliminate agencies and programs they argued were wasteful or politically biased.
Some of the steepest cuts came at agencies frequently criticized by Trump during both his first presidency and his return to office.
The Department of Education's workforce dropped 42.6% in 2025, shrinking from roughly 4,300 employees to fewer than 2,500, according to the Pew report.
Even more dramatic was the downsizing of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which saw its workforce fall by more than 92%, dropping from nearly 4,900 workers to just 370.
Other agencies experiencing significant reductions included the parent organization of the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities (-56.6%), AmeriCorps (-43.6%), the Small Business Administration (-32.9%), and the agency overseeing Voice of America, and other international broadcasters (-32.7%).
The workforce reductions largely hit white-collar positions, which make up the overwhelming majority of federal jobs. Employment in white-collar roles declined 10.6%, compared with a 6.7% reduction among blue-collar workers.
Administrative, information, and budget-related positions were among those seeing the largest decreases.
At the same time, enforcement-related roles tied to border security increased.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement added about 7,500 employees in 2025 — a 36% increase — while Customs and Border Protection also grew slightly, reflecting the administration's emphasis on immigration enforcement.
Younger and less experienced workers were disproportionately affected by the reductions.
Workers under age 35 fell from 18% of the federal workforce to 16.8%, while employees with fewer than two years of experience dropped sharply.
The downsizing followed an early push by Trump allies and government reform advocates to overhaul the federal bureaucracy.
According to The Washington Post last week, the administration eliminated hundreds of thousands of positions during a sweeping restructuring effort aimed at cutting costs and reshaping agencies to better align with the president's policy priorities.
Officials say the goal is a leaner government that answers more directly to elected leaders while reducing spending and bureaucratic inefficiency.
At the same time, the administration has begun selectively hiring in key areas such as health care, technology, and program management as it transitions from rapid cuts toward rebuilding parts of the workforce.
Even with the renewed hiring, however, the federal government remains far smaller than when Trump returned to office — a shift supporters say fulfills the president's campaign pledge to rein in Washington's sprawling bureaucracy and return power to taxpayers and the states.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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