FOREIGN DESK
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration plans to trim roughly 317,000 workers from the federal payroll this year, according to the government’s top human resources official — a figure even higher than earlier projections.
Scott Kupor, the head of the Office of Personnel Management, reported that while more than 300,000 employees are expected to exit the government workforce, approximately 68,000 new hires were made in 2025 — both numbers exceeding earlier estimates.
The large-scale workforce reduction is part of President Donald Trump’s ongoing effort to slim down the civilian federal structure, which he has repeatedly argued is inefficient and overly large. When Trump returned to office for his second term, the federal government employed around 2.4 million people.
Much of the downsizing process was initially guided by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) during the early months of Trump’s renewed presidency. On Monday, Kupor stated on X that he and budget director Russ Vought are working to embed DOGE’s goals more permanently within federal management systems. This follows reports from Reuters on Sunday indicating that DOGE was disbanded eight months before the completion of its intended tenure.
