It looks like President Trump did it. He reduced the size of government and isn’t done yet. According to Mark Perry’s reading of Bureau of Labor Statistics data, we’re back to 1966.
President Trump has undone much of the damage by the Big Government purveyors.
NOT WIDELY REPORTED: The collapsing Federal government workforce, which fell in August to 2.67 million employees, the lowest level in more than 60 years, going back to May 1966. pic.twitter.com/tefuR4EGnS
— Mark J. Perry (@Mark_J_Perry) September 6, 2026
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Corporation for National and Community Service, and the Department of Education are the three government agencies that have seen the sharpest workforce declines during President Donald Trump’s second term.
They were so large and unaccountable that they were implementing anti-American propaganda.
The administration also implemented hiring freezes and mass layoffs. In February 2025, he issued a directive giving federal employees the choice of accepting a resignation package, which included salary payments until the end of September, or risk future layoffs.
Thousands took the cash.
According to a report by the ‘nonpartisan’ but pro-big-government group the Partnership for Public Service, most federal agencies saw their workforce decrease from September 2024 to January 2026, with USAID cut by 94.6 percent.
The report found that from September 2024 to January 2026, the number of federal employees decreased by 12 percent, and it has improved since. A lot are leaving through attrition.
As of April 2026, these are the top ten agencies cut:
- USAID—94.6 percent
- Corporation for National and Community Service—47.1 percent
- Department of Education—45.1 percent
- General Services Administration—36.8 percent
- Office of Management and Budget—35.2 percent
- U.S. Agency for Global Media—34.5 percent
- Office of Personnel Management—33.7 percent
- Peace Corps—33 percent
- National Science Foundation—32.8 percent
- Department of Housing and Urban Development—32.2 percent
President Trump has also taken the knife to wasteful foreign assistance.
Many can’t be eliminated except by Congress, and they seem to eliminate nothing. The only department that saw increases was the Department of Homeland Security. Obviously, we need these agents to clear out the dangerous and, in some cases, deadbeat aliens Democrats invited in.
Here are the top 25 from the report:
