The federal government has always been seen as the "safe" career bet. You get in, you keep your head down, and you retire with a pension. At least, that was the vibe for decades. Honestly, things shifted fast in 2025. If you've been following the news, you know the atmosphere in D.C. turned pretty electric, and not in a good way for many civil servants.
Talk of mass layoffs and "Schedule F" reclassifications dominated the headlines, leaving people wondering if the civil service was basically being dismantled. But when you look at the raw data, the number of federal employees fired tells a much more nuanced story than the shouting on cable news would suggest. It wasn't just a sudden trapdoor opening under every desk; it was a mix of aggressive policy shifts, incentivized exits, and a whole lot of legal chaos.
The Big 2025 Numbers: Separations vs. Firings
Let’s get the math out of the way. According to data released by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and tracked by groups like the Partnership for Public Service, the federal workforce saw a massive churn in 2025. About 317,000 workers left the federal rolls by the end of that year.
That sounds like a staggering number—and it is—but you have to break it down to understand who actually got "fired."
- Involuntary Separations: Roughly 24,000 people were forced out. This includes about 17,000 through Reductions in Force (RIFs) and another 7,000 probationary employees who were let go.
- The "Fork in the Road": This was the big one. Roughly 144,000 employees took a "deferred resignation" deal. Basically, they were offered a way to leave early with pay through September.
- Routine Attrition: Around 129,000 people left through standard retirements or just quitting for other jobs.
So, while the "fired" number—meaning those forced out against their will—was closer to 24,000, the total exodus was much larger because the environment made staying feel impossible for many.
Why the number of federal employees fired spiked so hard
Historically, firing a federal employee is a nightmare for HR. It usually takes years of documentation, performance improvement plans (PIPs), and endless appeals to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).
👉 See also: To Whom It May Concern: Why This Old Phrase Still Works (And When It Doesn't)
In 2025, the game changed. The administration, leaning heavily on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), targeted specific agencies for "right-sizing." They didn't just wait for people to mess up; they used structural tools to shrink the headcount.
The Schedule F Factor
One of the most controversial moves was the reintroduction of Schedule F. This was an executive order that sought to reclassify thousands of civil service roles—mostly those involved in policy-making or "confidential" work—into a new category.
Why does that matter? Because Schedule F employees don't have the same due process rights. They can be fired "at will," much like private-sector employees. While OPM estimated that about 50,000 positions (roughly 2% of the workforce) would eventually fall under this, the mere threat of it caused a massive wave of voluntary resignations. People didn't want to wait around to see if their job was about to lose its protections.
Targeted Agency Cuts
It wasn't a flat cut across the board. Some departments got hit way harder than others.
The Department of Education and the EPA were frequently in the crosshairs. For example, by mid-2025, the Department of Agriculture saw an 8% drop in its workforce, and the Department of Education was down nearly 4%.
At the IRS, it was a weird tug-of-war. Despite the administration's public rhetoric against the agency, they still needed people to process checks. However, a whistleblower report later suggested that some IRS employees were pushed out under the guise of "poor performance" that wasn't actually backed up by data. This lead to a string of lawsuits that are still clogging up the courts.
✨ Don't miss: The Stock Market Since Trump: What Most People Get Wrong
The Legal Backlash: When Firings Don't Stick
You can't just fire 24,000 people in the federal government without a legal firestorm. By late 2025, federal judges in San Francisco and Baltimore started issuing orders to reinstate workers.
The core of the argument was that agencies were skipping the "due process" required by the Civil Service Reform Act. Even for probationary employees—those in their first year—there are rules. You can't fire them for "partisan political affiliation," yet many claimed that was exactly what was happening.
"Reinstatement means a full return to duty, not indefinite limbo."
That was the line from a major 2025 ruling. Some agencies tried to get around this by "reinstating" people but immediately putting them on paid administrative leave. It was a mess. It cost taxpayers double: they were paying the salary of the person sitting at home, plus the legal fees to fight the reinstatement.
Misconceptions About "Poor Performers"
There’s this persistent myth that the federal government is full of people who do nothing and can't be fired. Honestly, the MSPB has been studying this for decades. Their reports usually show that "poor performers" only make up about 3.7% of the workforce.
🔗 Read more: Target Town Hall Live: What Really Happens Behind the Scenes
The problem isn't that they can't be fired; it's that supervisors often don't want to deal with the paperwork. In 2025, the administration tried to bypass the paperwork entirely. While this "streamlining" was popular with some voters, it created a massive brain drain.
When you fire a nuclear scientist at the Department of Energy or a veteran claims processor at the VA, you don't just lose a "bureaucrat." You lose twenty years of institutional knowledge. By early 2026, many agencies were struggling to meet basic service levels because the people who knew how to run the systems were gone.
What it means for the future of federal work
If you’re looking at a federal career now, or if you're currently in one, the landscape has fundamentally shifted. The "job for life" era is, if not over, definitely on life support.
- Probationary periods are high-risk. If you're in your first year, you have almost no protection. In 2025, over 7,000 of the "fired" employees were in this window.
- Documentation is your only shield. If you're a federal worker, you need to keep a paper trail of every performance review, every "atta-boy" email, and every directive you follow.
- The MSPB is the ultimate arbiter. Despite the executive orders, the courts and the MSPB still have the power to overturn illegal firings.
The number of federal employees fired in 2025 was a historical outlier, driven by a specific political mandate to shrink the "Deep State." Whether this becomes the new normal or a one-time correction depends entirely on the outcome of the ongoing court battles and the 2026 midterms.
Actionable Insights for Federal Employees
If you feel you’ve been unfairly targeted or are worried about future cuts, here’s the play:
- Audit Your Personnel File: Ensure all your "Exceeds Expectations" reviews are physically printed or saved externally. Don't rely on a government server you might lose access to tomorrow.
- Understand Your Category: Are you "Competitive Service" or "Excepted Service"? If you've been moved to a "Policy-Making" role, your protections are significantly thinner.
- Join a Union or Professional Association: Organizations like AFGE or the Federal Managers Association are the ones funding the lawsuits that are currently getting people their jobs back.
- Watch the RIF Rules: If your agency announces a Reduction in Force, seniority often matters, but so does your veteran status. Know where you sit on the "retention register."
The dust hasn't settled on the 2025 purge yet. For every employee who took the buyout, there’s another fighting in court to prove their firing was a pretext for political cleaning. It’s a complicated, messy chapter in American governance that’s still being written.
Next Steps to Protect Your Career
Check your latest SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action) to confirm your current appointment status and service computation date. This document is the primary evidence used in any MSPB appeal. You should also review your agency's specific grievance procedures, as many have shortened windows for filing a response to a proposed removal.