Shrinking the federal government was a central promise of 2025. Eighteen months later, the official data allow citizens to check the results.
The Workforce: What Changed
Federal data show a net decline of about 271,000 civilian federal employees, roughly 12% of the workforce, between January 2025 and July 2026. Most departures were resignations and retirements, including the deferred resignation program, rather than layoffs. Pew Research Center’s analysis of the first year found about 387,000 departures, including about 17,000 through reductions in force, offset by about 122,000 new hires.
The cuts were uneven. According to GAO, from December 2024 to January 2026:
- USAID: down 95%
- Department of Education: down 46%
- General Services Administration: down 37%
- Office of Personnel Management: down 34%
- National Science Foundation: down 33%
- Housing and Urban Development: down 31%
- Homeland Security: down less than 1%
The Savings: What Was Claimed
As of July 7, 2026, DOGE’s online “Wall of Receipts” claimed approximately $215 billion in total savings, including about $110 billion attributed to canceled or reduced contracts, grants and leases.
The Audit: What GAO Found
On August 6, 2026, the Government Accountability Office, Congress’s nonpartisan auditor, reported that “some savings estimates are incorrect or lack supporting evidence.” Among its findings:
- DOGE did not follow its own stated method for calculating most savings from terminated contracts
- GAO could not verify the method behind 96% of reported grant savings
- A reported $1.7 billion savings from a Defense Health Agency IT contract involved a contract that was never terminated, reduced or defunded
- Lease savings listed as $113 million added up to $53.5 million in the individual entries, and some terminations were already underway before DOGE existed
GAO’s report assessed documentation. It did not conclude that no savings occurred, and it did not produce its own total.
The Costs
Reducing the workforce also cost money. Public Citizen estimates paying employees on deferred resignation through March 2026 cost $11 billion to $15 billion. The Partnership for Public Service identified more than 20,000 later hires into the same types of roles. OPM Director Scott Kupor has defended the program’s economics.
The Bottom Line
The federal workforce did shrink substantially, and that is documented. The headline savings figures remain self-reported and largely unverified. Both supporters and critics of the effort should want the same thing: savings claims that can be checked against receipts.
Keep Digging With Truth Agent
This article is a starting point. Truth Agent puts the public record at your fingertips, including the Constitution, federal law, regulations, court opinions and oversight reports, so you can read GAO reports, OPM data and agency spending records directly without relying on anyone’s summary, including ours.
Read Next on Truth Trench
- Who Runs the Executive Branch? The Current U.S. Cabinet and the Officials Directly Behind Them
- How Federal Regulations Are Made, and How You Can Comment on One
- The Power of the Purse: How Congress Funds the Government, and Why Shutdowns Happen
Sources
- GAO: Recent Federal Workforce Changes at OPM
- Federal News Network: GAO finds 96% of DOGE’s claimed grant savings cannot be verified
- Reason: DOGE claimed $110 billion in cuts that couldn’t be verified
- Fortune: The federal government shed 385,000 employees last year
- Public Citizen: Trump’s $11 Billion Resignation Program
- Partnership for Public Service: Federal Harms Tracker
