Editors at National Review Online see one positive data point emerging from the federal government.
Don’t look now, but the federal government might actually have gotten leaner.
The most recent data show that fewer people now work for the federal government than at any point since 1966, when Lyndon Johnson expanded the bureaucracy to construct his “Great Society.” As a share of the total U.S. workforce, the figures are even more impressive: Less than 2 percent of people employed work for the federal government — the lowest share since before World War II.
The Trump administration gets credit for this milestone. Federal employment has been falling only since President Trump was inaugurated last January, after growing during the Biden years. In the past 14 months alone, the government has shed 352,000 workers, a stunning 12 percent decline. Military personnel are excluded from the count, so all reductions were in civilian staff.
The process that got us here was less messy than it appeared. Haphazard firings by the short-lived Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, received the most media attention. Yet the lion’s share of workforce reductions came through orderly layoffs. Over 150,000 federal employees accepted a buyout offer from the Trump administration early in his term. Tens of thousands more were let go in lawful “reductions in force” as agencies reorganized. As separations rose in 2025, hirings to fill vacancies slowed.
Layoffs were concentrated in administrative positions, which have long been due for contraction. The overgrown Defense Department bureaucracy saw the largest absolute reduction. Several departments that should not exist — Education, Agriculture, and Housing and Urban Development — also underwent deep cuts.
Trump deserves credit for achieving the lightest federal workforce in living memory. The federal government should employ as many people as necessary to perform its legitimate functions, and no more.
