Partnership for Public Service launches new Federal Harms Tracker to measure the impact of Trump administration cuts

July 31, 2025

New data finds over 148,000 federal employees have left government since January

WASHINGTON – Ahead of President Trump’s 200^th day in office, the nonpartisan, nonprofit Partnership for Public Service today launched the Federal Harms Tracker: The Real Cost to Your Government and Community. This new, innovative data and storytelling project documents the impact of the Trump administration’s unprecedented efforts to dismantle federal institutions, funding streams and infrastructure.  

The tracker’s inaugural product, “The Cost to Your Government,” offers the most comprehensive estimate of federal workforce reductions under the Trump administration, including both voluntary separations – such as early retirements and deferred resignation program acceptances – and involuntary separations, such as reductions in force and probationary period firings. The product also offers a view of these reductions by month and agency and further connects them to specific risks for the public.  

Key findings include: 

• As of July 21, 2025, over 148,000 civil servants have left the workforce since the Trump administration took office.   

• The deferred resignation program accounts for the largest share of workforce reductions. As of July 21, over 80,000 employees have received approval for the program and were placed on administrative leave since January 2025. 

• Across the Cabinet departments, the departments of the Treasury, Agriculture and Defense have seen the largest workforce reductions in terms of scale. Each department has shed more than 15,000 employees since the beginning of the year. 

• The months with the greatest number of federal job cuts are February (40,533), March (43,624) and June (31,409).  

“It’s alarming to see such a staggering number of federal employees leave their jobs within just the first 200 days of this administration,” said Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service. “This is more than just a loss in headcount – it’s a completely avoidable loss of critical institutional knowledge and operational capacity from our federal government, and it’s the public who will be hurt the most.” 

Estimates in “The Cost to Your Government” are compiled from announced and confirmed employee separations across federal agencies, sourced from official government documents and news reports. They exclude reinstatements, judicial reversals and employees placed solely on administrative leave.  

The Federal Harms Tracker will launch two additional tools later this fall. The next product, “The Cost to Your Community,” will feature a map that captures where and how the federal government’s footprint is changing across states and congressional districts, including pre-2025 data to contextualize current events and track shifts in staffing, funding and infrastructure over time. The third product, “The Cost to Our Economy,” will feature an aggregate estimate of the cost of the Trump administration’s changes and cuts to federal resources. 

“We all deserve a federal government that meets our needs and works well, and the Trump administration’s arbitrary and careless cuts to the federal civil service are putting our safety, prosperity and well-being at risk,” said Stier. “The Federal Harms Tracker will shed a much-needed light on how individuals and communities across the country will be hurt by these actions in the short term and for years to come.” 

For resources and more information about how current and former federal employees can navigate this time of uncertainty, visit the Partnership’s Federal Employee Resource Hub.     

During the past 24 years, the nonpartisan, nonprofit Partnership for Public Service has been dedicated to building a better government and a stronger democracy. We work across administrations to help transform the way government works by providing agencies with the data insights they need to succeed, developing effective leaders, inspiring the next generation to public service, facilitating smooth presidential transitions and recognizing exceptional federal employees.  

Visit dev.ourpublicservice.org, follow us @PublicService and subscribe today to get the latest federal news, information on upcoming Partnership programs and events, and more.       

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