(NewsNation) — President Donald Trump’s administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have been working to cut the federal workforce by at least 10% since January.
In an executive order, Trump instructed government heads to hire no more than one employee for every four employees who are fired or quit. These heads have also been told to plan for massive layoffs.
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Here’s a look at how many federal workers have been laid off due to actions taken by the Trump administration.
What is Trump’s federal buyout program?
The new administration, along with DOGE and Musk, created a federal buyout program that offered government employees the option to resign immediately, but still be paid and have benefits until October. As of Feb. 13, 77,000 employees accepted the offer, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“So, congrats, I suppose, to the 77,000 people who get an eight-month vacation,” Leavitt told NewsNation.
One former employee with the Department of Agriculture, Nicholas Detter, told NewsNation he was fired despite accepting the buyout by the Feb. 5 deadline. He said he received an email stating he would be fired immediately with no explanation behind the termination. The Office of Personnel Management said that was an accident.
“We are saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars with this buyout,” Leavitt told NewsNation’s Markie Martin. “When you think about the overall cost … we are saving the American taxpayers money at the end of the day and this is going to make our government more efficient.”
Probationary period: Government leaders told to start firing employees
On Feb. 13, Office of Personnel Management officials met with leaders across the government and told them to start firing employees who were still in a probationary period a year or more after being hired. However, federal employees typically remain on probation anywhere from one to two years after being hired, depending on the agency.
This move could affect more than 200,000 federal employees, but the exact number is unknown. This is different than a previous directive from the office days before, when agencies were told to remove these employees only if they were also seen as poor performers, according to The Hill.
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The American Federation of Government Employees has said the organization is going to fight the layoffs, claiming they would hinder government performance.
“This administration has abused the probationary period to conduct a politically driven mass firing spree, targeting employees not because of performance, but because they were hired before Trump took office,” AFGE president Everett Kelley said in a statement.
What federal agencies have been affected by DOGE, Trump layoffs?
Department of Veterans Affairs
As of Feb. 14, the Department of Veterans Affairs has fired more than 1,000 employees as part of the federal government layoffs, according to The Hill. In a statement, the VA stated that all of those who were fired had worked at the department less than two years.
The department said these layoffs will:
Save more than $98 million per year.
Allow the government to redirect the money toward health care, benefits and services for VA beneficiaries.
“There are currently more than 43,000 probationary employees across the department, the vast majority of whom are exempt from today’s personnel actions because they serve in mission-critical positions — primarily those supporting benefits and services for VA beneficiaries — or are covered under a collective bargaining agreement,” the VA statement noted.
FILE – The seal is seen at the Department of Veterans Affairs building in Washington, June 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
Some do not agree with these layoffs, including Democratic Sen. Patty Murray from Washington. In a statement, Murray said there are VA researchers in Washington “who are right now being told to immediately stop their research and pack their bags — not because their work isn’t desperately needed, but because Trump and Elon [Musk] have decided to fire these researchers on a whim.”
Defense Department
Now, the Pentagon is bracing for layoffs, USA TODAY reports, as the Defense Department sends a list of its probationary employees to Trump.
According to NPR, there is an alleged memo that states DOGE and the Trump administration want to cut 8% of the workforce at the Defense Department. This could include all armed services, but that’s unknown at this point.
Education Department
The Washington Post reported Friday that DOGE cut contracts, staff and grants in the Education Department. These contracts included ones for the Institute for Education Sciences, with staff questioning if this was legal.
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“We’re completely crippled,” one employee at the Institute of Education Sciences told the Washington Post. “It really prevents us from serving the mission we thought we were carrying out.”
Last week, at least 50 employees who were in a probationary period were fired without cause, according to union leaders. Managers have allegedly been told to find workers who can be changed to a new job status that would take away some worker protections, according to reporting from the Washington Post.
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At least $900 million worth of contracts have been cut from the Education Department, according to department spokeswoman Madi Biedermann. It is uncertain whether that total is correct.
Energy Department
According to Politico, officials with the Energy Department have told program leaders to inform probationary employees they will be fired. This could include up to 2,000 employees, DOE officials told Politico under anonymity.
Department of Health and Human Services
Hundreds of employees at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health have received termination notices this week, according to NPR.
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NPR spoke with half a dozen current staffers who wanted to remain anonymous. The number of employees who were fired at the NIH and CDC is lower than expected, but some CDC staff told NPR they are afraid more cuts are coming. NPR also reported:
There have been about 750 CDC employees have received termination notices so far.
Leaders at the CDC told staff members that 10% of the workforce would be cut, which adds up to about 1,300 employees.
At the NIH, between 1,000 and 1,200 employees received termination notices over the weekend, which is a couple hundred less than expected. NPR reported that officials were able to save some positions as they were deemed necessary.
Department of Homeland Security
NBC News reported Monday that the Trump administration is ready to fire hundreds of high-level employees at the Department of Homeland Security. Sources told NBC News that Trump has a “centralized” plan and a list of people in those positions who will be fired.
But more general cuts started at the department last week, including cutting employees at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Internal Revenue Service
According to NewsNation affiliate WDCW, the IRS is planning to lay off thousands of employees soon. It is not clear how many employees will be fired, but it will be employees who are under probationary periods.
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IRS employees were told previously that they could not take Trump’s federal buyout offer during tax season.
Have any federal employees been reinstated after DOGE layoffs?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday that many employees who were working on the government’s response to the bird flu outbreak were accidentally sent termination notices.
In a statement, the USDA said that they are working on rescinding those letters.
“USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service frontline positions are considered public safety positions, and we are continuing to hire the workforce necessary to ensure the safety and adequate supply of food to fulfill our statutory mission,” the statement said in part.
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According to Indian Country Today, around 950 employees with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Indian Health Service were told last week they would be laid off. Then, hours later, they were told they would no longer be laid off.
