If you’ve been watching the news lately, it feels like the floor is constantly falling out from under the federal government. For decades, a "government job" was the ultimate security blanket. That blanket didn't just get a few holes in 2025; it was basically put through a woodchipper.
Trying to pin down exactly how many federal employees have been fired in 2025 is actually harder than you’d think. Why? Because the administration didn't just use one big "you're fired" button. They used a mix of executive orders, "voluntary" resignation programs that felt a lot like being pushed out a window, and the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
Here is the raw reality. By the end of 2025, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) reported that roughly 317,000 federal employees had left the government.
Now, wait. If you talk to the administration, they’ll tell you 92% of those were "voluntary." But if you talk to the unions or the people who actually sat in those cubicles, they’ll tell you a very different story about "forced exoduses" and "performance-based" firings that happened without any actual performance reviews.
The Chaos of the DOGE Era
The Department of Government Efficiency wasn't just a catchy name for a Twitter (now X) thread. It was a literal chainsaw.
When the Trump administration took over in January 2025, the goal was clear: shrink the "Deep State" by any means necessary. Vivek Ramaswamy had famously campaigned on cutting the federal workforce by 75%. While they didn't hit that massive, world-ending number, they did manage to shrink the total civilian workforce from about 2.3 million down to 2.08 million by the start of 2026.
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That’s a 10% drop in a single year. In government terms, that's not a trim; it's an amputation.
Where the Ax Fell Hardest
Some agencies didn't just lose people; they were gutted. Take a look at these hits:
- Department of Defense (DoD): Lost over 61,600 employees. They’re the biggest, so they took the biggest hit by raw numbers.
- Department of Education: This one was personal for the administration. They saw a 33% reduction. Basically, every third desk is now empty.
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS): Around 30,000 people are gone. If you were hoping for a faster tax refund, 2025 was probably a reality check for you.
- USAID: This agency was essentially a ghost town by July. The administration put almost the entire workforce on administrative leave before officially cutting them.
Were They Fired or Did They Quit?
This is where things get "kinda" murky. In February 2025, the administration launched the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP).
The deal was simple: "Leave now, and we'll give you full pay and benefits through the end of the year." About 154,000 people took that deal. Was that a firing? Technically, no. But when your new boss is Elon Musk and he’s publicly saying your job is "wasteful," most people see the writing on the wall.
Then you had the "Schedule F" executive order. This was the big one. It stripped civil service protections from thousands of employees, making them "at-will." Basically, it made it as easy to fire a high-level policy expert as it is to fire someone at a fast-food joint.
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The Probationary Purge
One of the most brutal tactics happened in February 2025. OPM Director Scott Kupor (and acting director Charles Ezell before him) directed agencies to fire "probationary" employees—anyone who had been on the job for less than a year.
The crazy part? They were told they didn't even need to provide evidence of bad performance. Some of these people had "stellar" reviews just months prior, but they were shown the door with a generic letter saying the agency "no longer has a need for your services."
The Legal Food Fight
You can't fire that many people without the courts getting involved. By May 2025, federal judges started issuing injunctions.
There was a massive "Reduction in Force" (RIF) plan that aimed to cut another 700,000 jobs—targeting anyone whose job wasn't strictly required by law. A judge paused that, calling the legal authority "questionable."
Then came the October 2025 government shutdown. Usually, a shutdown means a "furlough" (a temporary unpaid vacation). But OMB Director Russ Vought basically said, "Never let a good crisis go to waste." He tried to turn the shutdown into a permanent mass firing. Unions like the AFGE and NTEU fought back in court, and as of late 2025, those cases are still tied up in a legal knot that might take years to untangle.
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What This Means for You (The Actionable Part)
Honestly, if you're a federal employee or looking to become one, the "old" rules of government work are dead. The 2025 purge changed the DNA of the civil service.
If you are currently in the federal system:
- Document everything. Since "performance-based" firings are being used as a tool for downsizing, keep a hard copy of every single positive review and email you've ever received.
- Diversify your skills. The administration is prioritizing "merit" and "loyalty" (depending on who you ask). If your job can be automated or outsourced, DOGE is looking at it.
- Watch the courts. Your job security currently rests more with a handful of federal judges than it does with your agency head.
If you are a taxpayer:
- Expect delays. You can't lose 30,000 IRS workers and 12,000 VA employees without seeing a dip in service.
- Watch the "Efficiency" claims. The administration claims they saved $135 billion, but the IRS says the loss of enforcement staff actually cost the government $500 billion in lost revenue. The truth is likely somewhere in the middle.
The bottom line is that how many federal employees have been fired in 2025 is a number that depends on your definition of "fired." But whether it was a layoff, a forced resignation, or a pink slip on a Friday afternoon, 317,000 empty chairs tell the real story.
The federal workforce is smaller, leaner, and—arguably—way more stressed out than it’s ever been in modern history. If you're looking for a job with total security, you might want to look somewhere other than D.C. for a while.
Next Steps for You:
Check your agency’s specific "Reductions in Force" (RIF) status through the OPM’s latest FedScope data updates. If you are a union member, ensure your contact information is updated with the AFGE or NTEU to receive immediate alerts on pending litigation that may affect your specific pay grade or "Schedule F" status.