2025 United States federal mass layoffs

More than 275,000 United States federal civil service layoffs have been announced by the second Trump administration.[1][2] As of May 12, 2025, the New York Times tracked more than 58,000 confirmed cuts, more than 76,000 employee buyouts, and more than 149,000 other planned reductions; cuts total 12% of the 2.4 million civilian federal workers.[3] As of April 28, 2025, CNN has tracked at least 121,361 workers laid off or targeted for layoffs.[4] In limited cases, the administration has rescinded layoff notifications.[5]

The administration's efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce have been facilitated by the Department of Government Efficiency, and taken place in overlapping stages, including: a January executive order to remove due process employment protections from civil servants;[6][7] a January "deferred-resignation" deal;[8][9] the unilateral closing of several agencies, including the United States Agency for International Development and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.[10] The longest-running stage began on the first day of President Donald Trump's second term in office: an effort to terminate tens of thousands of "probationary employees"—generally, workers hired, transferred, or promoted within the past year,[11] and inciting a protest on President's Day.[12] A much greater number of federal workers are slated to be dismissed in a series of agency reductions in force (RIF).[13] On February 26, agency leaders were ordered to submit plans for these RIFs by March 14.[14][15]

The mass layoffs have garnered a response, and have been met by lawsuits. The Trump administration has called this an effort to reduce federal government expenditures, reduce the ability of the federal government to regulate business, and reduce the role of the federal government in U.S. society.[16] Opponents of the effort say it is a hasty, ill-conceived effort that is reducing crucial and beneficial services, violating the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988,[17] and increasing the power of the presidency.

  1. ^ Cox, Jeff (April 3, 2025). "Layoff announcements surge to the most since the pandemic as Musk's DOGE slices federal labor force". CNBC. Retrieved April 15, 2025. Furloughs in the federal government totaled 216,215 for March, part of a total 275,240 reductions overall in the labor force, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
  2. ^ Lobdell, Nicole (April 3, 2025). "Federal Cuts Dominate March 2025 Total: 275,240 Announced Job Cuts, 216,670 from DOGE Actions". Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. Retrieved April 6, 2025. Over the last two months, DOGE actions have been attributed to 280,253 layoff plans of federal workers and contractors impacting 27 agencies, according to Challenger tracking.
  3. ^ Shao, Elena; Wu, Ashley (May 31, 2025). "The Federal Work Force Cuts So Far, Agency by Agency". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 31, 2025.
  4. ^ O’Kruk, Annette Choi, Alex Leeds Matthews, Danya Gainor, Amy (February 26, 2025). "Visualizing Trump's overhaul of the federal workforce". CNN. Retrieved May 7, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Bohannon, Molly. "Trump Administration Reverses Layoffs At These Federal Agencies—After Accidentally Cutting Bird Flu, Nuclear Staff". Forbes. Archived from the original on February 19, 2025. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
  6. ^ "Restoring Accountability To Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce". The White House. January 21, 2025. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  7. ^ Montgomery, Mimi; Peck, Emily (January 28, 2025). "Which federal workers could lose protections under Trump order". Axios. Archived from the original on February 28, 2025. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  8. ^ "Agencies ramp up pressure on their workers to quit". Government Executive. February 4, 2025. Archived from the original on February 27, 2025. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  9. ^ Garrison, Mike; Garrison, Joey. "Which agencies have been hit by federal layoffs? What to know about NPS, NIH, IRS, more". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on February 16, 2025. Retrieved February 16, 2025.
  10. ^ "USAID to keep on fewer than 300 staff, as thousands placed on leave". POLITICO. February 6, 2025. Archived from the original on February 23, 2025. Retrieved February 23, 2025.
  11. ^ "Thousands of workers fired in federal purge". The Hill. Nexstar Media Group. February 14, 2025. ISSN 1521-1568. Archived from the original on February 16, 2025.
  12. ^ Dimolfetta, David (February 17, 2025). "Federal workers decry recent firings in Presidents' Day protest". Government Executive. Archived from the original on February 18, 2025. Retrieved February 18, 2025.
  13. ^ "Reductions in Force (RIF)". U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  14. ^ Sullivan, Eileen (February 28, 2025). "Office Closures and Relocations Part of Trump's Plan for Large-Scale Layoffs". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 2, 2025. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  15. ^ Vought, Russell (February 26, 2025). "Memorandum: Guidance on Agency RIF and Reorganization Plans Requested by Implementing The President's "Department of Government Efficiency" Workforce Optimization Initiative" (PDF). Office of Management and the Budget. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 1, 2025. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  16. ^ House, The White (February 20, 2025). "Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Reduces the Federal Bureaucracy". The White House. Retrieved May 10, 2025.
  17. ^ "Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN)". edd.ca.gov. Retrieved April 15, 2025.

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