Where federal workers landed after Trump's purge
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Illustration: Maura Kearns/Axios
When the Trump administration started its purge of the civil service a year ago, it kicked off an exodus of federal workers with consequences that are only beginning to shake out.
Why it matters: Hundreds of thousands of former federal employees are trying to find their way in a sluggish labor market, as the administration's opponents warn about the long-term consequences of a shrunken civil service.
The big picture: President Trump said earlier this month that those who left the government workforce are "getting much better jobs and much higher pay," but there is no data tracking exactly where the more than 300,000 departed employees are landing.
- Some certainly went to the private sector.
- Plenty remain unemployed or took lower-paying roles.
- The jobless rate in Washington, D.C. — with its high concentration of government workers — was 6.9%, as of November 2025. That's up from 5% the prior year.
Where it stands: Some former civil servants, once dedicated to a nonpartisan life inside the government, are now running for office as Democrats.
Zoom in: Others are taking lower-paying jobs in state and local government.
- A nonprofit called Work for America launched a platform called Civic Match last November to help feds get jobs in local government. There's been a surge of interest.
- "There was just an unbelievable wave," says Caitlin Lewis, the executive director of Work for America, which runs the platform. More than 12,000 have filled out a profile on its site.
- So far, they've helped 182 former federal workers find jobs.
Between the lines: At least two dozen former federal employees over the past year have told Axios that they got into government work because of the mission. Many remain committed to public-service-type roles like those at nonprofits and state and local governments or consulting firms that work with public bodies.
- "All of those pathways are struggling," says Michelle Amante, a senior vice president at Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit focused on good governance.
- Both nonprofits and consulting firms are struggling amid Trump administration funding cuts.
- And state and local governments simply can't absorb hundreds of thousands of workers.
Zoom out: The U.S. civil service has been much maligned, but it produces things like sophisticated weather forecasting, gold-standard economic data and pharmaceutical regulations that have saved countless lives.
- The loss of personnel over the past year "depleted the government of critical expertise, robbed it of the capacity to respond quickly to public needs and made Americans less secure at home and around the world, all at increased cost to the taxpayers," says the Partnership in a report on the administration's first year.
The other side: The White House says this was a move toward efficiency, and bettering people's lives.
- "Over the past year, the Trump administration has slashed thousands of federal jobs – yet economic growth is accelerating, new trade and peace deals have been signed, and federal nutrition guidelines have been reformed," says spokesman Kush Desai.
- "President Trump pledged to streamline our bloated government and make it better serve the American people; the results of the past year prove he's doing just that."
The bottom line: Getting a job with the federal government isn't easy, but former feds say they'd go back.
- "It was clawing and scratching in order to get into the department," says Hakan Stanis, a former foreign affairs officer at the State Department who took deferred resignation last year, after hearing that his office was being eliminated.
- If the opportunity comes up to return after Trump's term, would he go back? "I'd like to think so."
