OpenFeds Tracker
⚠️ DOGE & Cuts: The Full Picture
280K+ federal positions eliminated since January 2025 — the largest peacetime federal workforce reduction in American history. Here's every number, every agency, and every dollar.
📊By the Numbers
The scale is unprecedented. For context, the federal government typically sheds 6–8% of its workforce annually through normal attrition. DOGE compressed years of natural turnover into months — and then added involuntary separations on top.
📧Deferred Resignation Program (DRP)
On February 4, 2025, nearly every federal civilian employee received the “Fork in the Road” email offering a deal: resign voluntarily and receive full pay and benefits through September 30, 2025.
“The government paid $4.5 billion to employees who accepted the DRP — people who were on paid administrative leave doing no work for up to eight months.”
— Partnership for Public Service estimate, April 2026
The DRP was designed to achieve voluntary attrition without costly RIF procedures. Whether paying 76,000 employees to do nothing for eight months counts as “efficiency” depends on your perspective — but the $4.5 billion price tag is real, and it offsets a significant chunk of any claimed savings.
💸RIF Severance Costs
Employees involuntarily separated through Reductions in Force are entitled to severance pay under federal law. Between January 2025 and January 2026, the government paid an estimated $763.9 million in RIF-related severance.
How Federal Severance Works
- • Basic: 1 week of pay per year of service (first 10 years)
- • Extended: 2 weeks of pay per year beyond 10 years
- • Age bonus: 10% increase for each year over age 40
- • Cap: Maximum 1 year of salary
- • DRP participants who voluntarily resigned are not eligible for severance
Most DOGE-driven layoffs did not include severance — many employees were fired as probationary workers or pressured to resign. The $764M figure represents those who went through formal RIF proceedings and had legal entitlement.
🏛️Agency-by-Agency Breakdown
Not all agencies were cut equally. USAID was effectively shut down (85% reduction), while the VA — the largest civilian employer — saw targeted trims of just over 1%.
| Agency | Est. Cuts | % Cut | Method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health & Human Services (HHS) | 28.2K | 33% | RIF, DRP |
| IRS / Treasury | 25K | 28% | RIF, attrition |
| USAID | 8.5K | 85% | Full shutdown |
| Dept. of Education | 7.2K | 50% | RIF, DRP |
| EPA | 6.5K | 39% | RIF, DRP |
| General Services Administration | 5.7K | 48% | RIF |
| Veterans Affairs | 5.2K | 1.2% | Targeted RIF |
| Consumer Financial Protection Bureau | 1.2K | 60% | Near shutdown |
| Office of Personnel Management | 850 | 30% | RIF |
| Small Business Administration | 3.6K | 40% | RIF, DRP |
| Dept. of Energy | 4.1K | 27% | RIF, DRP |
| Social Security Administration | 3.8K | 6% | Attrition, hiring freeze |
Estimates compiled from OPM FedScope data, AP, Federal News Network, and agency-specific reports. Numbers are approximate and continue to change as some employees are reinstated by court order.
📄Contract & Grant Cancellations
DOGE claims $110.3 billion in total savings from terminated contracts, grants, and leases. Independent analysis tells a different story — the “savings” figure represents the ceiling valueof agreements, not actual money that would have been spent.
⚠️ Important Context
- • Over 8,000 cancelled contracts were worth less than $100K each — more theater than savings
- • Many cancelled contracts are being replaced with new ones at similar cost
- • Contract termination penalties can offset a portion of “savings”
- • FPDS posting of termination notices can lag up to 1 month
📅Timeline of Major DOGE Actions
DOGE established via executive order on Inauguration Day
Government-wide hiring freeze issued
Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) 'Fork in the Road' email sent to ~2M federal workers
Federal judge temporarily blocks DRP deadline; extended to Feb 12
DRP deadline passes — ~76,000 employees accept buyout
First wave of RIFs (Reductions in Force) begin at USAID, HHS, Education
Mass probationary employee firings across agencies; courts order some reinstated
IRS begins post-tax-season layoffs of 25,000 employees
DOGE contract cancellation blitz — $61B in contracts terminated
Grant cancellations accelerate — 15,887 grants worth $49B terminated
'Black September' — 125,589 separations as DRP admin leave expires and fiscal year ends
Some agencies begin rehiring; NPR reports DOGE cuts being partially reversed
OPM issues second-round DRP/VERA guidance for FY2026
Federal News Network reports cumulative RIF severance costs reach $764M
By March 2026, 9% of the total federal workforce has been eliminated
Partnership for Public Service estimates DRP payments totaled $4.5B
🗓️The September 2025 Cliff
September 30, 2025 was the perfect storm. Three forces converged on a single date:
DRP Expiration
76,000 employees on paid administrative leave hit their end date. No more paychecks.
Fiscal Year End
Agencies rushed to complete RIFs before FY2025 closed. Use-it-or-lose-it budget pressure.
Retirement Wave
Demoralized senior employees timed retirements to the fiscal year boundary.
The result: more federal workers left in September 2025 than in any single month in modern history. It was three times the monthly average and overwhelmed HR offices, exit-processing systems, and unemployment offices in the DC metro area.
⚖️Costs vs. Savings — The Real Math
Restructuring the federal workforce isn't free. Before declaring victory, you have to subtract the transition costs from any savings.
💰 The Costs
📈 The Savings
Net first-year impact: After subtracting $6.8B in transition costs from ~$5.5B in verified recurring savings, the federal workforce restructuring likely cost money in Year 1. Recurring savings should turn positive in Year 2+ — but only if agencies don't rehire to fill critical gaps.
🔍Explore the Data
DOGE Impact Dashboard
Real-time workforce reduction tracker
Separations Data
All types of federal departures
Monthly Timeline
Month-by-month workforce changes
Who Got Cut
Detailed reduction breakdown
State Impact
Geographic effects of cuts
Risk Scores
Which agencies are most vulnerable
The $110B Myth
What DOGE actually saved
Black September
125K left in one month
DRP True Cost
$4.5B in admin leave payments