Doge ‘disappointing’: the federal workforce which shrinks by only 1% shows the entrenchment of the bureaucracy, say the experts

The data indicating the federal workforce decreased by only 1% during the first months of President Donald Trump’s second term of the Doge’s disappointing effect and the level of bureaucracy in America, experts at Fox News Digital said.

The figures published by the American Office for Personnel Management (OPM) show that the United States employed 2,289,472 federal workers on March 31, which is down 2313 216 on September 30, 2024. The reduction of more than 23,000 jobs “reflects the first efforts of the administration to rationalize the government and eliminate the OPM office” declared in a press version.

“It is just until the end of March. I therefore suspect that these figures will be higher by the end of September of this year, that is to say at that time that many retirement packages-and the buyouts-come into force,” Fox News Digital Alex Nowrasteh told Fox News, the vice-president of the economic and social policy of the Cato Institute.

“No matter what these figures are, this is not enough for people who have been dismissed. It is not a sufficient narrowing on the federal workforce. And it is a disappointing effect of Doge that it could not increase the size of the decrease in federal workforce,” he added.

“ `Only the beginning ”: the Trump administration publishes data showing a reduced federal workforce since January

President Donald Trump, on the left, and Elon Musk, the former head of the Government Department (DOGE). (Reuters)

Trump signed a decree in February by asking the Department of Effectiveness of the Government (DOGE) to coordinate with federal agencies and to execute massive cuts in the number of federal government.

This order is reflected in the new data, said OPM, showing that agencies were on average 23,000 new monthly hiring from April 2024 to January 2025, but fell from almost 70% to only 7,385 per month once the job frost has been fully implemented.

Peter Morici, economist and business teacher at the University of Maryland, told Fox News Digital that “fundamentally, Elon Musk had poured some tea cups of icy water into the ocean to fight against his increasing temperature”.

The demonstrators gather outside Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building of the American office of staff management on February 5, 2025 in Washington, DC (Images Alex Wong / Getty)

“It is very difficult to get rid of people unless you get rid of functions. You see, he was able to decimate Usaid because he withdrew all their money,” said Morici. “It is very, very difficult to reduce the trade department unless you only wanted the figures collected.”

“It takes more than four years,” also said Morici. “Look at the problems they have just with the maladie reform, how all special interests come out. Over the years, the federal bureaucracy is not only in Washington, but it has spread throughout the country.”

“And while you are talking about reducing it, you are talking about affecting local economies, the interests of congresses, etc.,” he added.

Elon Musk’s former friend warns the ex-Doge Head will do “ En all ” to damage Trump

Elon Musk is seen with a Doge hat. (Francis Chung / Politico / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

DOGE did not immediately respond to a request for comments from Fox News Digital.

David Hebert, economist of the American Institute for Economic Research, said that the reduction reported by OPM “is certainly a start”.

“The real challenge that President Trump is confronted is the fact that the federal government has taken over too many responsibilities on itself,” he added in a statement at Fox News Digital. “If the president and the congress are serious about the rationalization of the government, they must go beyond” waste, fraud and abuse “and seek to lose responsibilities that the federal government should not have in the first place”.

The interior cancels $ 14 million in annual fishing subsidy cited in the Fox report after the Doges Highlights Disney Ads, wages

The OPM said that “hundreds of thousands of additional workers” will pass roles in October 2025, when more workers leave via the delayed resignation program that was offered to employees in order to reduce the labor market.

According to the OPM, tens of thousands of employees who are being terminated remain in the government’s wage bill due to the judicial orders which are currently disputed by the administration.

Elon Musk receives a golden key from the American president Donald Trump in the oval office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 30, 2025. (Reuters / Nathan Howard)

“The American people deserves a skinny, effective government and focused on basic priorities,” said the acting director of the OPM, Charles Ezell, in a press release.

“These data mark the first measurable step towards President Trump’s vision of a disciplined and responsible federal workforce, and this is only the beginning.”

Click here to obtain the Fox News app

Trump’s efforts to reduce the federal workforce have faced a strong resistance from the Democrats and various courts, the opponents saying that the administration suppresses critical jobs.

Andrew Mark Miller from Fox News Digital contributed to this report.