Hundreds of thousands of federal employees were laid off or quit in 2025. Many found new purpose in state and local government roles.

When President Donald Trump took the oath of office for a second time in January, more than 3 million people worked for the federal government. While the Trump administration has taken many ...

The changes have been years in the making and represent a federal hiring apparatus more focused on applicable skills than specific backgrounds.

The job losses at the federal government and at state governments have hit nonfarm employment all year, and hard. State governments shed 45,000 jobs in 2025, including another 7,000 in December, after ...