President Donald Trump appears to be making good on another pledge that critics claimed he couldn't achieve: shrinking the federal bureaucracy. The White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM) says they are on pace to eliminate 300,000 federal jobs by the end of the year, which would equal 12.5% of the federal workforce. The federal government employs about 2.4 million people, not counting active duty military and U.S. postal workers.
Many of these cuts are from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the new agency tasked by President Trump with cutting the federal bureaucracy upon him retaking office. But Trump's signature phrase "You're fired" is not responsible for most of the departures. In fact, OPM estimates 80% of the job cuts are workers leaving voluntarily through retirements or buyouts. "The Department of Education is offering $25,000 buyouts," says Brian Brenberg, Fox Business host and analyst, on a recent episode of The Big Money Show. "To me, it's part of the larger picture...look, DOGE can't end a department, but they can shrink it, big time. And they're going after it with paychecks to say to people why don't you leave if you don't like it here."
The federal workforce cuts are just part of Trump's larger effort to drain the D.C. swamp, which has proven easier said than done. But trimming more than 12% of the federal workforce in the first year in office is a good start. Brenberg believes this is about getting more of Americans' money out of the swamp. "If you go down to D.C., it's a city filled with BMWs and Mercedes, and it's got the highest real estate prices in the country," he says. "And the reason is because it's like a siphon...all the money from around the country gets sucked there, then divvied out to lawyers, consultants, and bureaucrats...and they enjoy a pretty nice life."
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