Facts, Figures & Lists: The Federal Workforce
February 17, 2025
I. Overview
Abell, Octavia, and Linos, Elizabeth, “Dismantling Government Won’t Make it More Efficient–Investing in It Will,” Government Executive (February 14, 2025).[1]
Congressional Research Service, Federal Workforce Statistics Sources: OPM and OMB, Report 43590 (September 29, 2023).[2]
DeSilver, Drew, “What the Data Says About Federal Workers,” Pew Research Center (January 7, 2025).[3]
In November 2024, the federal government employed just over 3 million people, or 1.87% of the entire civilian workforce, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data. That figure doesn’t count the roughly 1.3 million active-duty military personnel, who aren’t typically considered “employees.” It does include the more than 600,000 people who work for the U.S. Postal Service, an independent federal agency with semiautonomous status that operates somewhat like a private business.
Set aside the Postal Service and you have a bit more than 2.4 million federal workers…. Detailed information on most executive-branch workers – 2,278,730 as of March 2024 – is available through OPM’s FedScope data portal. The rest of this analysis draws mostly from that database, FedScope doesn’t include postal workers, congressional staffers, employees of the government’s various intelligence agencies or presidential appointees who require Senate confirmation.
…. In absolute terms, it has risen fairly steadily for decades. In November 2000, federal employment – excluding the Postal Service – stood at 1,855,900 people, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data. That number has grown by a little over 1% each year since then, to 2,405,100 people in March 2024.
While the number of federal workers has grown over time, their share of the civilian workforce has generally held steady in recent years. The federal government (again excluding the Postal Service) accounts for 1.5% of total civilian employment, a share that – except for a temporary bump in mid-2020 for the decennial census – has been largely constant for more than a decade.
…. The Department of Veterans Affairs employs more than 486,000 people, giving it by far the largest payroll of the 18 Cabinet-level departments (noting that OPM counts the Army, Navy and Air Force departments separately). Most of these employees work for the Veterans Health Administration, which operates the VA’s extensive network of hospitals, clinics and nursing homes.
The smallest Cabinet-level department, with 4,245 workers, is the Department of Education. Trump, like many previous Republican presidents, has proposed abolishing the department entirely.
Among independent agencies, the largest employer is the Social Security Administration, with more than 59,000 workers. That’s more than the combined total of five Cabinet-level departments: Education, Energy, Labor, State, and Housing and Urban Development.
…. Fewer than a fifth of the workers in OPM’s database – about 449,500 – work in the District of Columbia or the adjoining states of Maryland and Virginia. Outside that region, California and Texas have the largest contingents of federal employees, with about 147,500 and 130,000, respectively. About 30,800 federal employees work overseas.
Kamarck, Elaine, “Is Government Too Big? Reflections On the Size and Composition of Today’s Federal Government,” Brookings (January 28, 2025).[4]
The federal government’s workforce has remained largely unchanged in size for over 50 years, even as the U.S. population has grown by 68% and federal spending has quintupled, highlighting the critical role of technology and contractors in filling the gap.
Contractors now outnumber federal employees more than two to one, creating a “blended workforce” that raises pressing questions about accountability, efficiency, and the boundaries of “inherently governmental” functions.
Lee, Nicole Turner, “How Federal Layoffs Set the Stage for Greater Privatization and Automation of the US Government,” Brookings (January 30, 2025).[5]
Partnership for Public Service, A Profile of the 2023 Federal Workforce.[6]
II. Resource Organizations & Publications
American Federation of Government Employees, https://www.afge.org
National Federation of Federal Employees, https://nffe.org
National Treasury Employees Union, https://www.nteu.org
Partnership for Public Service, https://ourpublicservice.org
United States Federal Labor Relations Authority, https://www.flra.gov
United States Office of Personnel Management, https://www.opm.gov[7]
United States Office of Personnel Management – FedScope, https://www.fedscope.opm.gov
Federal News Network, https://federalnewsnetwork.com
Federal Times, https://www.federaltimes.com
FedScoop, https://fedscoop.com
FedWeek, https://www.fedweek.com
Government Executive,
https://www.govexec.com
Military Times, https://www.militarytimes.com
III. Trump Administration Executive Orders
Executive Order – Implementing The President’s “Department of Government Efficiency” Workforce Optimization Initiative (February 11, 2025), https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/implementing-the-presidents-department-of-government-efficiency-workforce-optimization-initiative.
Executive Order – Eliminating the Federal Executive Institute (February 10, 2025), https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/eliminating-the-federal-executive-institute.
Executive Order – Limiting Lame-Duck Collective Bargaining Agreements That Improperly Attempt to Constrain the New President (January 31, 2025), https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/limiting-lame-duck-collective-bargaining-agreements-that-improperly-attempt-to-constrain-the-new-president.
Executive Order – Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit (January 21, 2025), https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity.
Executive Oder – Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government Service (January 20, 2025), https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/reforming-the-federal-hiring-process-and-restoring-merit-to-government-service.
Executive Order – Restoring Accountability to Policy Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce – Schedule F (January 20, 2025), https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/restoring-accountability-to-policy-influencing-positions-within-the-federal-workforce.
Executive Order – Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing (January 20, 2025), https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-and-wasteful-government-dei-programs-and-preferencing.
Executive Order – Establishing and Implementing the President’s Department of Government Efficiency (January 20, 2025), https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/establishing-and-implementing-the-presidents-department-of-government-efficiency.
Executive Order – Restoring Accountability for Career Senior Executives (January 20, 2025), https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/restoring-accountability-for-career-senior-executives.
Executive Order – Holding Former Government Officials Accountable for Election Interference and Improper Disclosure of Sensitive Governmental Information (January 20, 2025), https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/holding-former-government-officials-accountablefor-election-interference-and-improper-disclosure-of-sensitive-governmental-information.
Executive Order – Hiring Freeze (January 20, 2025), https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/holding-former-government-officials-accountablefor-election-interference-and-improper-disclosure-of-sensitive-governmental-information.
[P.S. Consult the attached PDF as it includes several additional charts and maps.]
