The last time we shrank the federal workforce
12 March 2025 - 27 mins
Podcast Series
Planet Money
If you cut every single federal job President Donald Trump wants to cut, how much money would that save?
A president has tried to massively shrink the size of the federal government before. It was in the 90s, under a Democrat.
Today on the show: Where they found waste the last time we really looked. (Hint: it wasn't jobs.) And why the pace of firings under Trump might start to slow down.
For more:
- Lessons for the Future of Government Reform
- Is government too big? Reflections on the size and composition of today's federal government
- Creating a Government That Works Better and Costs Less
This episode of Planet Money was produced by Willa Rubin. It was edited by Jess Jiang and e...
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