(The Center Square) – The federal civilian workforce shrank by nearly 256,000 employees, 11.3%, across every major agency in 2025, a government watchdog report confirmed, providing the first comprehensive accounting of the Trump administration's workforce cuts.
The Government Accountability Office reports found the workforce across 22 of 24 major federal agencies fell from 2.27 million to 2.01 million employees between December 2024 and January 2026. The net reduction of 256,000 employees was the result of nearly 378,000 separations offset by about 127,000 new hires.
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