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Last updated:
November 20, 2025
Issue status:
Endangered

Equality at Work: Decimating the Federal Workforce

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Last updated: November 20, 2025

DateWhat happened?
Jan 20, 2025Trump issues an executive order banning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across the federal government, including a directive to “terminate…all DEI, DEIA, and ‘environmental justice’ offices and positions.”
Jan 20, 2025Trump announces a 90-day hiring freeze affecting all federal civilian positions, with exceptions made for positions related to immigration enforcement, national security, and public safety; the 90-day expiration does not apply to the IRS. The same memo orders the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to submit a plan for large-scale layoffs across the federal government.
Jan 21, 2025Trump fires Coast Guard Commandant Linda Fagan, the first woman to lead a branch of the US military, citing “excessive focus” on diversity, equity, and inclusion among the reasons for her dismissal.
Jan 22, 2025A group of unions led by the National Treasury Employees Union sues the administration over moves to strip labor protections from career civil servants (NTEU v. Trump).
Jan 22, 2025The president of the American Federation of Government Employees issues a statement contextualizing the administration’s attack on DEIA as a pretext for firing federal workers and a particular threat to the hundreds of thousands of disabled veterans serving in the government.
Jan 22, 2025NASA closes the office responsible for responding to discrimination and harassment complaints and disability accommodations.
Jan 23, 2025New leaders of the Army and Air Force sign memos ordering the armed forces to shut down DEI-related initiatives focused on service-member quality of life.
Jan 27, 2025Trump signs an executive order that claims DEI programs “undermine leadership, merit, and unit cohesion, thereby eroding lethality and force readiness.”
Jan 27, 2025Sixty employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) who reportedly worked within an office that focused on DEIA are placed on leave.
Jan 28, 2025A group of transgender service members and prospective enlistees challenge Trump’s executive orders banning transgender individuals from enlisting and serving in the military (Talbott v. Trump).
Jan 27, 2025Trump signs an executive order directing the military to determine a policy for transgender service members based on “troop readiness” within 30 days. The executive order does not ban transgender service members but states that troop readiness is “inconsistent with the medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals with gender dysphoria.”
Feb 5, 2025The US Office of Personnel Management issues guidance (PDF) ordering federal departments and agencies to stop all DEI work without eliminating functions mandated by federal civil rights law.
Feb 6, 2025Two nonprofit organizations file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Trump administration’s ban on military service by trans individuals (Shilling v. Trump).
Feb 11, 2025Trump signs EO 14210: “Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Workforce Optimization Initiative,” which requires that all federal agencies develop a plan to reduce their staff size through large-scale job cuts. The order also requires that agencies hire only one employee for every four that depart.
Feb 12, 2025The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which represents employees at the FDA and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), sues to block mass firings and efforts to pressure employees to resign (NTEU v. Trump).
Feb 14, 2025The US Army announces via social media that it will no longer allow transgender people to enlist and will stop providing gender-affirming care for service members.
Feb 1, 2025Reports surface that among the dozens of workers put on leave from the Department of Education under Trump’s DEI ban, very few had any current work related to DEI — suggesting that the terminations are an ideological purge rather than a cost-saving initiative.
Feb 5, 2025The Office of Personnel Management issues a memorandum telling agencies to “prohibit” employee resource groups that develop “unlawful DEIA initiatives” or “employee retention agendas based on protected characteristics.”
Feb 7, 2025Pete Hegseth signs a memo banning transgender people from joining the military or accessing gender-affirming care while in the military.
Feb 19, 2025Federal workers protest the slashing of federal jobs in cities around the US.
Feb 19, 2025A group of labor and nonprofit organizations files a lawsuit against OPM asking the court to halt mass terminations of probationary employees (AFGE v. OPM).
Feb 20, 2025A federal judge denies a temporary restraining order in the National Treasury Employees Union suit, arguing that the claims must be brought to the Federal Labor Relations Authority (NTEU v. Trump).
Feb 22, 2025Trump fires four-star general Charles Q. Brown Jr., who was only the second Black officer to hold the title of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Feb 22, 2025Pete Hegseth fires the Navy’s top officer, Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to hold the post. Adm. Franchetti’s firing leaves the military without a single woman in a four-star general or admiral leadership position.
Feb 26, 2025A Pentagon memo calls for establishing procedures to identify and remove transgender service members within 30 days.
Feb 26, 2025A Pentagon memo orders all military services to remove any websites, photos, news articles, and videos that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Feb 26, 2025The Social Security Administration closes the office charged with managing civil rights, equal employment opportunity, harassment prevention, and disability services at the agency.
Feb 27, 2025SPARTA — a nonprofit made up of transgender people currently serving in the US armed forces — releases a list of resources for trans service members.
Feb 28, 2025Pete Hegseth orders a civilian hiring freeze (PDF) at the Department of Defense (DOD), to go into effect March 2, 2025.
Feb 28, 2025The Federal Trade Commission closes its Equal Employment Opportunity Office. The office processed discrimination and harassment complaints and handled accommodations for disabled employees at the FTC.
Mar 1, 2025The entire staff of 18F — a federal agency dedicated to improving government technology — is fired and the agency is shuttered.
Mar 6, 2025Twenty states led by Maryland sue to stop the mass firings of probationary employees, arguing the move violates the Administrative Procedure Act (Maryland v. USDA).
Mar 6, 2025The ACLU issues an explainer on the rights of disabled federal workers and the government’s legal responsibility to continue providing reasonable accommodations, including work-from-home arrangements as needed.
Mar 13, 2025A judge orders that 24,000 fired probationary employees be reinstated, noting that “It’s a sad, sad day when our government would fire a good employee and say it’s based on performance when they know good and well that is based on a lie” (Maryland v. USDA).
Mar 13, 2025Twenty states and the District of Columbia file a lawsuit to block the dismantling of the Department of Education and prevent the termination of nearly half its staff (New York v. McMahon).
Mar 13, 2025The Federal Unionists Network organizes a live call (now archived, video) to contextualize the federal job cuts with union leaders, representatives, and other labor and political leaders.
Mar 14, 2025Civilian employees of the Department of Defense (DOD) report that the hiring freeze has left them stranded, unable to make travel plans or retrieve personal belongings in the midst of moving to new duty stations.
Mar 17, 2025Two transgender service members sue the Trump administration over the executive orders targeting trans Americans in the military (Ireland v. Hegseth).
Mar 18, 2025The Pentagon claims to restore some (but not all) of the pages taken down in its DEI sweep while simultaneously defending the purge.
Mar 19, 2025Federal workers protest the slashing of federal jobs in cities around the US for the second time.
Mar 20, 2025A federal judge places a preliminary injunction on the executive order banning transgender people from the military, saying the ban likely violates their constitutional rights (Talbott v Trump).
Mar 21, 2025The Department of Homeland Security closes its office responsible for investigating both civil rights complaints from members of the public and discrimination and harassment complaints and disability accommodation requests within DHS.
Mar 22, 2025Reports surface that the IRS expects a 10% drop in tax receipts for the first quarter of 2025, amounting to a $500 million drop in revenue, after more than 11,000 workers at the agency are dismissed.
Mar 24, 2025A federal judge temporarily blocks the Trump administration from initiating proceedings that could lead to the firing of two transgender men serving in the US Air Force (Ireland v. Hegseth).
Mar 25, 2025A federal judge grants a preliminary injunction against the administration’s transgender military ban, noting that “The government’s arguments are not persuasive, and it is not an especially close question on this record” (Shilling v. Trump).
Mar 27, 2025Trump issues an executive order cancelling collective bargaining agreements for thousands of federal civilian employees by claiming that the work of many departments and agencies (including the Bureau of Land Management, the CDC, the FDA, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) is of an “intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security” nature.
Apr 3, 2025A group of unions led by the American Federation of Government Employees sues the administration over the executive order that terminated collective bargaining agreements (AFGE, AFL-CIO v. Trump).
Apr 5, 2025Trump fires Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield, the ninth senior US military official — four of them women — fired since the beginning of the administration.
Apr 8, 2025The Supreme Court allows the administration to proceed with firing 16,000 federal workers (AFGE v. OPM).
Apr 11, 2025Trump replaces General Brown with retired Air Force Lieutenant General Dan Caine, the first person to become Chair of the Joint Chiefs without ever having been a four-star general or admiral, and whose appointment required a waiver to circumvent the legal requirement for this experience.
Apr 14, 2025The Federal Unionists Network (FUN) organizes letter writing campaigns and local visits to elected representatives, focusing on cuts at the Social Security Administration, the EPA, and the VA.
Apr 17, 2025Trump extends the federal hiring freeze until July 15, 2025. The order extending the freeze also declares that when it expires, agencies will only be able to hire one new employee for every four employees who depart (again excluding immigration, law enforcement, and public safety workers).
Apr 24, 2025Trump signs an executive order directing agencies to automatically terminate probationary workers at the end of their probation.
Apr 25, 2025A federal judge blocks the administration from cancelling collective bargaining agreements for thousands of federal civilian employees (AFGE, AFL-CIO v. Trump).
Apr 27, 2025NPR reports on how the Trump administration’s hiring freeze, layoffs, and attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs harm Black federal workers.
Apr 28, 2025A coalition of labor organizations, nonprofits, and local governments sue the administration, claiming that large-scale layoffs are unconstitutional and unlawful (AFGE v. Trump).
Apr 29, 2025The nonpartisan Penn Wharton budget model reports that federal spending has risen 6.3%, or $156 billion, since Trump took office, despite promises from the administration to cut the budget.
May 5, 2025Nineteen states file a lawsuit challenging a directive from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to fire thousands of HHS workers and abruptly shutter dozens of departments (New York v. Kennedy).
May 6, 2025The Supreme Court issues a stay, allowing the ban on transgender people in the military to go into effect while legal challenges continue (Shilling v. Trump).
May 8, 2025The Pentagon begins immediately removing up to 1,000 transgender service members and gives others 30 days to self-identify for “voluntary separation” following the Supreme Court ruling.
May 13, 2025Data from the April jobs report by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 106,000 Black women lost jobs in April, the largest job loss of any demographic that month.
May 22, 2025The Supreme Court upholds the firing of Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) member Cathy Harris by the Trump administration. Harris’s firing means the MSPB does not have enough members to take final actions on issues before the board, as Trump has not appointed replacements.
May 22, 2025A federal judge blocks the Trump administration’s mass layoffs and reorganizations across 22 federal agencies (AFGE v. Trump).
May 27, 2025An administrative judge from the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) rules that probationary employees can pursue reinstatement in a class action lawsuit.
May 28, 2025Federal tech workers from digital services consulting group 18F file a class-action appeal with the Merit Systems Protection Board, arguing their firing was retaliation for political beliefs, including work that promoted diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Jun 3, 2025A class-action lawsuit is filed by a group of terminated Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) employees seeking damages over their dismissals (Jackson v. Kennedy).
Jun 6, 2025The federal government is reported to be “scrambling” to rehire workers previously forced out or encouraged to resign, as staff shortages have jeopardized services including weather forecasting and drug approvals.
Jun 26, 2025An effort to use the budget reconciliation process to eliminate congressional review of reorganizations within federal agencies — effectively letting the administration fire thousands of workers with no oversight — is ruled out by the Senate parliamentarian.
Jun 30, 2025Former employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) file a class-action lawsuit protesting their terminations as probationary employees (Goodman v. Lunick).
Jul 1, 2025The Commerce Department announces that all employees on probation will be fired automatically at the end of their trial periods unless senior political leadership intervenes.
Jul 1, 2025The Department of Labor proposes a rule that would end the disability hiring goal for federal contractors.
Jul 1, 2025A federal judge blocks the Department of Health and Human Services from implementing a planned reorganization and massive reduction in its workforce (New York v. Kennedy).
Jul 3, 2025The June job report by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that unemployment among Black women (6%) is nearly twice the rate for white workers.
Jul 7, 2025Trump again extends the federal hiring freeze, until October 15, 2025.
Jul 8, 2025In an unsigned emergency opinion (PDF), the Supreme Court stays a lower court’s ruling and clears the way for the administration to proceed with widespread layoffs (AFGE v. Trump).
Jul 8, 2025The Merit Systems Protection Board reports receiving more than 11,000 appeals this year, twice its typical workload, and warns about the risk of backlog if a quorum is not restored.
Jul 9, 2025A US District Court judge orders the government to release its agency reorganization plans (AFGE v. Trump).
Jul 10, 2025The Trump administration fires employees of the US Institute of Peace for the second time.
Jul 10, 2025The organization Civil Service Strong creates a resource guide for federal workers affected by the July 8 Supreme Court decision that restarted large-scale layoffs.
Jul 12, 2025The State Department begins laying off more than 1,300 employees (nearly 15% of its domestic staff) triggering “confusion and disruption” at the agency.
Jul 14, 2025The US Supreme Court rules in favor of the Trump administration’s order to dismantle the Department of Education by firing more than 1,000 workers (New York v. McMahon).
Jul 15, 2025HHS fires thousands of employees across the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other federal health agencies, asserting that the July 8 Supreme Court decision allows the department to proceed with “a portion” of its planned reorganization and layoffs.
Jul 18, 2025The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) moves forward with plans to eliminate its scientific research arm, firing hundreds of scientists in the process.
Jul 21, 2025The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announces plans to eliminate 1,000 jobs, or one third of its staff. Most of the job losses will reportedly take the form of buyouts or early retirements, as the government continues to face legal challenges to its layoff plans.
Jul 23, 2025An appeals court blocks a lower court order demanding that federal agencies release their reorganization plans before moving forward with layoffs (AFGE v. Trump). This permits agencies to proceed with cuts without sharing information with either the public or the court.
Jul 25, 2025After kicking 25,000 workers out of the IRS, the Trump administration asks for a 31% funding increase in order to avert significant customer service problems that will “negatively impact taxpayers’ abilities to voluntarily comply with tax laws.”
Jul 29, 2025Reports surface that the IRS has sent letters to over half a million current and former federal employees warning them about back taxes they owe, raising concerns that such debts will be used as grounds for termination.
Jul 29, 2025The AFL-CIO files a second lawsuit against the administration’s efforts to cancel collective bargaining agreements for federal employees (AFL-CIO v. Trump).
Aug 1, 2025The Ninth Circuit issues a stay in the American Federation of Government Employees’ case challenging the administration’s cancellation of collective bargaining agreements for thousands of civilian federal employees. The ruling permits the administration to proceed with stripping federal employees of bargaining rights while the case continues (AFGE, AFL-CIO v. Trump).
Aug 1, 2025The July jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows very poor job growth in July and also makes significant revisions to previous months’ job gains, removing over a quarter million jobs from May and June’s estimates. More than one-third of slashed jobs in 2025 were cut from the federal government, but many of them have not yet appeared in the jobs report because the employees are still receiving severance pay.
Aug 1, 2025Hours after the disappointing July jobs report hits, Trump fires the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, raising concerns that future jobs reports will be unreliable.
Aug 6, 2025Senator Warren sends a letter (PDF) to education secretary Linda McMahon raising alarm about the growing backlog of student loan complaints in the wake of cuts at the Department of Education.
Aug 6, 2025The administration moves forward with stripping federal workers of their bargaining rights, after asserting in court that they would wait for the legal challenge to be resolved. Over 400,000 workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs (members of the American Federation of Government Employees) are the first to lose labor protections (AFGE, AFL-CIO v. Trump).
Aug 7, 2025The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that they are planning to hire for as many as 450 critical positions within the National Weather Service, restoring the majority of jobs lost to sweeping cuts earlier in the year.
Aug 7, 2025After previously asserting that senior transgender service members with at least 15 years of service would be eligible for early retirement benefits, the US Air Force reverses course, denying early retirement and rescinding approvals already given. The move strips long-serving personnel of potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in lifelong benefits.
Aug 7, 2025Reuters reports on the influence of the American Accountability Foundation, a right-wing research group with funding ties to Russel Vought, director of the Office of Personnel and Management, and Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff. The group maintains a “DEI watchlist” targeting approximately 175 federal workers for their associations with diversity and inclusion work. Most employees on the list are women and people of color, and many of them have received physical threats or been forced to leave their homes; others have been fired by the administration.
Aug 8, 2025The EPA begins cancelling labor contracts, claiming that this is necessary “to prevent irreparable harm to national security.”
Aug 8, 2025ProPublica reports on an increase in the number of doctors and nurses declining job offers from the VA, stating concerns about the uncertain future of the department after major staffing cuts.
Aug 12, 2025Trump nominates E.J. Antoni as the new Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) commissioner; Antoni, the chief economist at the Heritage Foundation, previously asserted without evidence that jobs data under Biden included “phony numbers.”
Aug 12, 2025The Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) and US Citizenship and Immigration Services move to cancel their union contracts, stripping more federal workers of collective bargaining rights.
Aug 12, 2025POLITICO releases an investigation into DOGE’s claims of cost savings and concludes that only $1.4 billion in savings can be verified — significantly less than the $52.8 billion DOGE claimed to have saved as of July 2025, and nowhere near the $2 trillion initially promised by Elon Musk.
Aug 13, 2025The Inspector General of the VA reports on “severe” staff shortages at all its hospitals, with 94% of VA facilities suffering a severe shortage of doctors, and 79% a severe shortage of nurses. The VA has been targeted for some of the largest cuts across the federal government.
Aug 15, 2025An appeals court rules on procedural grounds that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) can proceed with a layoff that encompasses nearly the entire agency, reducing staff from approximately 1,400 employees to only 200 (NTEU v. Vought).
Aug 20, 2025Citing the need to “fill critical vacancies,” the IRS announces plans to call back employees who accepted deferred resignation offers. The agency previously cut about 25% of its workforce.
Aug 21, 2025ProPublica reports that over 20,000 workers, or nearly 18% of the department, have left the Department of Health and Human Services. The analysis is likely an undercount.
Aug 21, 2025The administration terminates more than 600 employees of the CDC.
Aug 22, 2025The Department of Health and Human Services moves to strip employees at the CDC, FDA, and NIH of bargaining rights, following similar moves at the VA, EPA, and FEMA.
Sep 2, 2025The State Department begins hiring new foreign service officers, weeks after laying off 250 foreign service officers along with a thousand other employees. One staffer referred to the move as “totally inefficient and the definition of wasteful government spending.”
Sep 2, 2025A report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration confirms that less than 1% of probationary employees terminated by the IRS in February and March 2025 had any documented performance issues.
Sept 4, 2025The acting head of DOGE, Amy Gleason, complains that “there’s not enough tech talent” in the US government, months after the DOGE decision to shutter 18F, the federal government’s prestigious tech agency.
Sep 5, 2025The August jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics demonstrates continued poor job growth, including a revision to June’s numbers. It’s the first time monthly job numbers have gone negative since 2020. The racial employment gap continues to grow, with unemployment for Black Americans reaching 7.5%, compared to 3.7% for white Americans.
Sep 8, 2025The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals dismisses the suit brought by 20 states against the USDA over the termination of probationary employees, arguing the states lack standing (Maryland v. USDA).
Sep 9, 2025An update from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the US added 911,000 fewer jobs through March 2025 than previously estimated.
Sep 24, 2025In preparation for a possible government shutdown starting Oct 1, the White House sends a memo to federal agencies instructing them to “use this opportunity” to carry out mass firings in areas “not consistent with the President’s priorities.”
Sep 28, 2025The Office of Personnel Management updates its guidance (PDF) on government shutdowns, clarifying that during a shutdown agencies can move forward with “Reduction in Force” activities to permanently abolish government positions.
Sep 29, 2025A federal judge orders the Trump administration to reverse layoffs at the agency that oversees Voice of America, an international broadcaster funded by the US government.
Sep 30, 2025More than 100,000 federal workers formally quit their jobs after opting into the “Deferred Resignation Program” (PDF) earlier this year, marking the largest mass resignation in American history.
Sep 30, 2025Two unions representing government workers sue the Trump administration over its plans to fire federal employees during the impending government shutdown (American Federation of Government Employees v. OMB).
Sep 30, 2025The day before the shutdown begins, the Defense Department issues a memo (PDF) making it easier and faster to fire civilian employees for “poor performance.”
Oct 1, 2025A government shutdown begins after Republicans and Democrats fail to reach an agreement on continued funding for federal programs and services.
Oct 1, 2025The White House fires all but four members of the National Council on the Humanities, a group meant to advise the National Endowment for the Humanities, saying: “The President is hoping to place members on the board who align more closely with his vision.”
Oct 10, 2025Trump lays off hundreds more workers at the Department of Education, including employees at the department’s Office for Civil Rights and almost everyone in the office that oversees the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Oct 10, 2025In a court filing, lawyers for the Trump administration write that about 4,200 people from at least seven agencies have received “reduction in force” notices. The filing is a response to a lawsuit challenging Trump’s layoffs during the government shutdown (American Federation of Government Employees v. OMB).
Oct 15, 2025A federal judge grants a temporary restraining order that blocks the Trump administration from using “reductions in force” to lay off workers during the government shutdown (American Federation of Government Employees v. OMB).
Oct 28, 2025A federal judge indefinitely blocks mass layoffs of federal workers during the shutdown while the case proceeds (American Federation of Government Employees v. OMB).
Nov 12, 2025President Trump signs a bill to fund the federal government, ending the 43-day shutdown. The bill also reverses layoffs of federal workers made during the shutdown and ensures backpay for those who were furloughed or working without pay.

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