A total of 50,000 new federal employees have been hired so far during U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, with most recruits entering national security roles, a senior Trump administration official told Reuters on Thursday (13 November).
Scott Cooper, director of the federal government’s Office of Personnel Management, said that the majority of the new appointments were made in the national security sector—particularly in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—reflecting the administration’s policy priorities.
At the same time, the Trump administration has carried out massive layoffs across various government agencies to cut costs. Yet, recruitment efforts continued even amid the so-called restructuring.
Cooper said, “Our goal is to reassign staff to the sectors we consider most crucial.”
However, back in August, Cooper stated that nearly 300,000 federal employees were expected to be reduced this year.
While imposing hiring freezes in many ministries and making heavy cuts across agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Health and Human Services, the administration has hired new personnel elsewhere.
In January of this year, the Trump administration appointed billionaire Elon Musk to lead a project aimed at downsizing the 2.4-million-member federal workforce. Echoing Trump, Musk argued that the federal workforce had become too large and inefficient.
As part of the proposed downsizing program, nearly 154,000 employees accepted voluntary retirement incentives offered by the Trump administration. Former federal workers and union representatives say the reduction has affected various government functions, including weather forecasting, food safety, healthcare programs, and space projects.
