TheVoiceOfJoyce

Many of the planned layoffs may not happen. The Supreme Court and the Federal Lawsuits brought by 10 Senate Democrats, may block these unnecessary layoffs. If not, the Guardian prints the Demographics and States affected.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/07/who-are-federal employees-trump-firing

Former USAid employees collect personal belongings at the organization’s headquarters in Washington DC, on 27 February.Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Trump administration

Explainer

Who are the US federal workers at risk of losing their jobs and what do they do?

Trump, Musk and Doge are making cuts – here’s what we know about the current government size and demographics

Lauren Aratani with visuals by Andrew Witherspoon

Fri 7 Mar 2025 07.00 EST

Tens of thousands of US federal employees could lose their jobs after the Trump administration moves to reduce the size of the federal workforce dramatically.

With Elon Musk at the helm of the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge), which is overseeing efforts to cull federal employment, the White House has embarked on multiple plans to cut down on virtually all areas of federal employment. There are no official numbers of how many federal employees will be affected, and many of Donald Trump and Musk’s efforts have been stalled in court, but the impact could be big and long-lasting.

To understand what the cuts will do to federal operations, we first have to understand who works for the federal government and what they do. Here’s what we know about the federal workforce.

How big is the federal workforce?

There are about 3 million federal employees in the US, about 2% of the entire US workforce, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the data division of the Department of Labor.

Much of the federal workforce falls under the executive departments, the leaders of which make up the president’s cabinet. The Department of Defense is the largest employer, as it houses the US military, which includes the army, navy and air force, and has more than 750,000 employees. This figure encompasses the civil workforce within the defense department. There’s an additional 1.3 million active-duty US military personnel that BLS does not include when counting the federal workforce.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is the next largest employer, with approximately 480,000 employees.

The number of federal workers has largely remained unchanged over the last 50 years, with exceptions every 10 years for when there’s an influx of employees working on the US Census.

What are the demographics of the federal workforce?

When compared with the overall employed workforce, federal workers skew slightly older. More than 50% of federal workers are over 45, compared with 43% of the overall workforce.

Meanwhile, the racial demographics of the federal workforce largely reflect the demographics of the country as a whole, with one key exception: the federal government has a higher percentage of Black employees than the private sector.

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This is likely because the federal government implemented laws after the civil rights era to prevent bias in workplace hiring, allowing more Black workers to enter the federal workforce.

In January, Donald Trump signed two sweeping executive orders that ended diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs inside the federal government. He overturned multiple executive orders, including one from the civil rights era that required private contractors to practice equal employment opportunity when hiring.

While the federal layoffs are separate from Trump’s DEI actions, they both encompass dramatic efforts from the Trump administration to curtail the federal government’s role as an employer.

Where do federal workers live?

It’s a common misconception that most federal workers live in Washington DC. While federal workers make up a huge chunk of Washington’s population, the vast majority of federal workers

Are spread out over all 50 States. What will be the impact of these massive layoff? How many in your Community will be affected? Email TheVoiceOfJoyce@earthlink.net and let’s let Americans understand and bear witness to an unnecessary American tragedy.