Every department and agency with 500 or more employees shrank

Source. OPM Federal Workforce Data, EHRI Status snapshots (record counts). January 2020 – July 2026; compared January 2025 to May 2026.

Method and data

Method. Every department and agency with 500 or more employees in January 2025 (the last full snapshot before the change of administration), sorted by the percentage change to May 2026 — the last month before a change in the Defense Department’s reporting left some of its components missing from the June and July 2026 files. The Government Printing Office leaves the file after September 2025, a coverage change rather than separations; it is blank, not zero, and is not drawn. All agencies together: 2,304,585 to 2,025,993, −12.1%.

Department or agency	Jan 2025	May 2026	Change	% change
Government Printing Office	1,640
USAID	4,969	236	−4,733	−95.3
Education	4,111	2,272	−1,839	−44.7
AmeriCorps (CNCS)	714	399	−315	−44.1
Small Business Administration	8,562	5,097	−3,465	−40.5
General Services Administration	13,367	8,323	−5,044	−37.7
Peace Corps	987	618	−369	−37.4
Federal Reserve System	1,748	1,098	−650	−37.2
Office of Personnel Management	3,055	1,977	−1,078	−35.3
National Science Foundation	1,699	1,111	−588	−34.6
Federal Housing Finance Agency	883	600	−283	−32
U.S. Agency for Global Media	1,186	813	−373	−31.5
Housing and Urban Development	8,375	5,867	−2,508	−29.9
Treasury	116,709	84,302	−32,407	−27.8
Development Finance Corporation	717	531	−186	−25.9
Environmental Protection Agency	16,931	12,557	−4,374	−25.8
National Credit Union Administration	1,226	931	−295	−24.1
Energy	17,592	13,363	−4,229	−24
Office of Management and Budget	678	515	−163	−24
FDIC	6,548	5,046	−1,502	−22.9
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation	966	745	−221	−22.9
NASA	18,078	13,962	−4,116	−22.8
Labor	14,237	11,029	−3,208	−22.5
Health and Human Services	93,397	73,186	−20,211	−21.6
State	14,478	11,370	−3,108	−21.5
Federal Communications Commission	1,488	1,191	−297	−20
Federal Trade Commission	1,278	1,026	−252	−19.7
EEOC	2,075	1,678	−397	−19.1
Commodity Futures Trading Commission	699	567	−132	−18.9
National Archives	2,888	2,358	−530	−18.4
Securities and Exchange Commission	4,812	3,941	−871	−18.1
Consumer Product Safety Commission	512	421	−91	−17.8
Commerce	48,803	40,829	−7,974	−16.3
National Labor Relations Board	1,248	1,044	−204	−16.3
Nuclear Regulatory Commission	2,926	2,457	−469	−16
Agriculture	90,314	77,478	−12,836	−14.2
Social Security Administration	57,384	49,536	−7,848	−13.7
Court Services and Offender Supervision (DC)	1,035	902	−133	−12.9
Railroad Retirement Board	781	689	−92	−11.8
Defense	774,572	684,904	−89,668	−11.6
Justice	116,718	106,310	−10,408	−8.9
Transportation	57,423	52,721	−4,702	−8.2
Smithsonian Institution	4,450	4,100	−350	−7.9
Interior	63,774	58,884	−4,890	−7.7
Veterans Affairs	479,003	445,660	−33,343	−7
Homeland Security	231,795	225,578	−6,217	−2.7

Download s8-04-headcount-by-department.csv

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Higgins Strategy. “Every department and agency with 500 or more employees shrank” Exhibit 4, Every Federal Job (Study VIII). October 12, 2026. https://higginsstrategy.com/charts/s8-04-headcount-by-department/