By Courtney Rozen
WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) – The U.S. government’s civilian workforce shrank by 12% between September 2024 and January 2026, according to government data published on Wednesday, reflecting President Donald Trump’s efforts to cut government jobs.
The cuts were felt across the government, with agencies such as the Treasury Department and Health and Human Services seeing relatively large decreases.
The Treasury Department lost 24% of its staff in the same time period, according to the data. HHS, led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., lost 20% of its workforce.
Trump upon taking office promised to slash the size of federal agencies, which he argued were bloated and inefficient. The figures show he has fulfilled that promise.
An exception was the Department of Homeland Security, which handles immigration enforcement and grew by less than 1% over the time period. Trump has made arresting and deporting immigrants a central pillar of his presidency.
(Reporting by Courtney Rozen; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
