Trump's federal job cuts to hit these states the most, report says

The Trump administration is rapidly moving to shrink the federal workforce and some states will get hit much harder.

The federal workforce has more than 3 million employees across the country, with some of the biggest concentrations in Maryland, Virginia and New Mexico, according to a report from the Economic Policy Institute, which reviewed 2023 Census data and a 2024 Congressional Research Service report.

Excluding Washington D.C., where the federal workforce accounts for more than 13% of employment, the top 10 states with the biggest shares of federal workers are:

1. Maryland (7.3%)
2. Virginia (5.6%)
3. New Mexico (4.8%)
4. Hawaii (4.6%)
5. Alaska (4.5%)
6. Oklahoma (3.4%)
7. West Virginia (3.1%)
8. Wyoming (2.9%)
9. Alabama (2.8%)
10. Montana (2.8%)

Six of the top 10 states by share of federal employees in their workforces went for Trump in the 2024 election, including Alabama, Oklahoma and West Virginia, which may prove problematic for Republicans if job cuts weaken spending and economies in the states.

Trump's efforts to scale back the federal workforce keep meeting challenges.

But on Feb. 12, a judge ruled that the Trump administration could go forward with its plan to buy out federal workers. Around 75,000 federal employees have taken the buyouts, but that comes at 3.3% of the federal workforce and below the 5% to 10% the White House projected, USA Today reports.

Trump's mass firings of thousands of federal probationary employees, who are on their first or second year of the job, has been met with more setbacks, including a California judge who blocked the firings on Feb. 27.