Staff Reports
The Trump administration is racing toward a monumental achievement: eclipsing Bill Clinton’s controversial record for slashing the federal workforce. While Clinton’s eight-year term saw a reduction of around 426,200 jobs, the Trump team’s rapid restructuring and mass buyouts could wrap this feat in mere months, proving that sometimes, less really is more.
In the 1990s, under Clinton, the federal workforce dwindled from 2.2 million to 1.8 million, primarily due to voluntary buyouts. Now, with Trump at the helm, a mere glance at the numbers shows that many federal agencies are gearing up for similar—or possibly grander—reductions. The Department of Government Efficiency, affectionately referred to as DOGE (suggestive of a pet project from Elon Musk), is tasked with paring down wasteful spending, targeting those executive branch employees who typically hog federal payrolls.
Trump nearing Democrat Clinton's record for largest cuts to federal workforce | Just The News https://t.co/vWQ6mJP6i1
— 🇺🇸 JimAaron 🇺🇸 (@ArOkTxNm1) April 3, 2025
In a bold move early in this second Trump term, the Office of Personnel Management orchestrated an impressive buyout scheme, inviting 75,000 federal employees to voluntarily resign in exchange for a sweet paycheck through the end of September. Surprisingly, only 3% of the sprawling 2.3 million federal employees answered the call. The administration had hoped for a 5% to 10% response rate but appears ready to turn up the heat with a second round of buyouts directly from the agencies themselves. It’s almost as if agencies are handing out severance packages like candy, begging employees to take the hint and skedaddle.
Yet the work is far from complete. To break Clinton’s record, about 200,000 additional cuts appear necessary. Current calculations of Trump’s firings are muddled due to pesky legal hold-ups, but let’s not forget the dozens already kicked to the curb. USAID is reportedly whittling its workforce from 10,000 down to a few hundred, while the IRS is looking to shed half of its 90,000 staffers. The Department of Education has dramatically slashed its numbers and has even entertained the notion of disappearing altogether, which—let’s be honest—might not be the worst idea if it weren’t for the literal education of the nation at stake.
In the shadowy halls of the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth mentioned eliminating over 5,000 probationary employees deemed non-essential. Meanwhile, Health and Human Services announced a staggering cut of 10,000 staff members, a clear sign that trimming the fat is a serious priority. Should Trump fully execute the plan, a workforce drop below 2 million would be a reality, marking the leanest federal workforce since 2008. The numbers speak for themselves—Trump’s potential cuts, combined with the first round of buyouts, could send the bloated federal workforce on a diet that shrinks it to just 76% of what it was under Clinton.
The clock is ticking, and with each passing day, the Trump administration is inching closer to not only matching but potentially obliterating Clinton’s legacy of workforce reduction. With a renewed sense of urgency, federal employees are likely feeling the pressure, knowing that the ax is hanging ever so low overhead, and the chances of a golden parachute might just be their best ticket out.
