In a flurry of activity at the end of the week, the Trump administration fired more than 10,000 federal workers across multiple agencies as part of its “large-scale reductions” in the government workforce.
This is likely just the beginning of the job cuts, as President Donald Trump and top White House aide Elon Musk seek to continue slashing agency budgets.
Trump signed an executive order Tuesday seeking a significant reduction in the size of the government. It instructs heads of federal departments and agencies to make “large-scale reductions in force.”
The initial firings focused on – but weren’t exclusive to – employees in their first year of their federal job, as they lack the ability longer-term employees have to appeal their terminations. Coupled with about 75,000 workers who took President Trump’s buyouts, the job cuts amount to nearly 4% of the federal government’s 2.3 million workers.
Overall, about 220,000 federal workers of the total federal government workforce had less than one year of experience as of March 2024, according to the most recently publicly available data from the Office of Personnel Management.
Here’s where firings have occurred so far.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Layoffs and a court challenge
A federal judge on Friday blocked the dismissal of any more workers at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to multiple reports. More than 100 employees were laid off before the pause, NPR reported. A court challenge was filed by a union representing workers seeking to block Trump’s efforts to eliminate the CFPB.
Department of Education: Employees fired, put on leave
Termination notices were sent to more than 60 probationary employees across multiple work groups, including the offices of general counsel, special education and rehabilitation services, and federal student aid. Dozens of employees have been put administrative leave, multiple outlets including the New York Times and Washington Post reported, amid the Trump administration’s efforts to remove diversity, equity and inclusion positions from the government.
President Trump has said he would like to dismantle the Education Department. Last week, Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, announced on X the department canceled nearly $1 billion in educational research contracts, severely limiting the agency’s data-collecting arm.
Which agencies are being hit by DOGE?Education Department, USAID, NIH and more
Department of Energy job cuts include nuclear agency firings
About 1,200 to 2,000 workers in the department were terminated, including some at the National Nuclear Security Administration, which manages the U.S. nuclear weapons fleet and secures radiological materials around the world. Less than 0.5% of the NNSA workforce was dismissed, an Energy Department spokesperson said in a statement. Some NNsA employees at first identified for dismissals were later reinstated, Jill Hruby, former NNSA administrator in the Biden administration, said in an email to USA TODAY.
Department of Health and Human Services: CDC, NIH firings
Thousands of probationary employees were fired across the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to multiple reports
Roughly 1,300 probational workers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 10% of the agency’s workforce, were fired on Friday, the Associated Press and NPR reported.
Workers were also fired at the National Institutes of Health, where a “huge” number of nurses from the NIH Clinical Center were let go, Reuters reported, citing anonymous sources. Some facilities may be forced to close due to staffing shortages.
Department of Homeland Security: Firings at several federal agencies
More than 400 employees, identified as “non-mission critical personnel in probationary status,” were fired at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, according to CBS News and ABC News.
Department of the Interior: National Park Service hit with firings
At least 2,300 federal workers had their positions terminated. Among them were 800 Bureau of Land Management employees and about 1,000 National Park Service workers.
Department of Veterans Affairs: Firings yield $98 million
More than 1,000 of the department’s about 43,000 probationary employees were terminated, producing an estimated savings of about $98 million, the department said.
Environmental Protection Agency: 388 firings at federal agency
The agency fired 388 employees who were on probationary status “after a thorough review of agency functions in accordance with President Trump’s executive orders,” said Jeff Landis, an agency spokesman.
General Services Administration: Agency drops 100-plus workers
More than 100 probationary employees at the agency, which manages the nation’s real estate portfolio, have been pressured into either resigning or facing being put on leave and then terminated, Reuters reported.
Internal Revenue Service: Mass firings could be in the thousands
The IRS is preparing to fire thousands of workers next week, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. It was unclear how many thousands of employees would be fired at the IRS, which grew to about 100,000 people – including roughly 16,000 probationary workers – under the Biden Administration to increase its including its ability to audit corporations and wealthy taxpayers. Job cuts could affect the IRS’ work to process upcoming tax returns, according to The New York Times, which first reported the expected layoffs.
Office of Personnel Management loses dozens of workers
Dozens of probationary employees at the agency, which had instructed other federal agencies to let go its probationary employees, also fired dozens of its own workers in a Thursday afternoon group call, CBS News and CNN reported.
Small Business Administration: About 20% of workers fired
About 20% of the agency’s staff, or about 720 SBA employees, including hundreds of probationary employees, were fired, Politico reported.
U.S. Forest Service: About 3,400 workers fired
The agency, which is within the Department of Agriculture, fired about 3,400 probational workers, or nearly 10% of the Forest Service workforce of 35,000 employees. A source familiar with the cuts told USA TODAY the layoffs do not include firefighters, law enforcement officers, bridge inspectors or meteorologists.
United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
About 10,000 USAID employees, excluding essential personnel, were placed on administrative leave last week.
Contributing: Reuters and Zachary Schermele of USA TODAY.
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