In the month since Donald Trump took office, he has wasted no time taking drastic measures to reduce the size of the federal workforce.
The president issued an executive order shortly after his inauguration demanding all federal employees return to the office five days a week. Then came the deferred resignation offers, also referred to as a “buyout,” which around 75,000 federal workers accepted. His administration also began the process of firing probationary federal employees across the country—recent hires to the agency or long-serving employees who were recently moved or promoted into a new position. Around 220,000 federal employees in total had less than a year of service completed as of March 2024, according to government data.
