Federal job cuts hit Kansas City workers
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A USDA building in downtown Kansas City. Photo: Travis Meier/Axios
Across federal agencies in Kansas City, call times are rising, benefits are delayed, and workers are walking out the door due to job cuts coming out of Washington.
Why it matters: The federal government is Kansas City's largest employer, with nearly 30,000 total workers across the metro.
- Cuts to agencies like the IRS, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Social Security Administration (SSA) are already impacting basic services.
At the same time, the pace and rate of job cuts remains a fluid and evolving process.
State of play: The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has thinned federal ranks through buyouts, layoffs and reassignments. In January, the White House offered thousands of federal employees severance. Then in February, some were fired outright, including workers in Kansas City.
- CNN has tracked at least 121,000 federal workers who were either laid off or targeted for layoffs across the U.S.
By the numbers: About 100 IRS employees were laid off at the KC Service Center in February. Roughly 238 more took buyouts.
- 80,000 Veterans Affairs jobs are on the chopping block nationally; backlogs are expected to worsen this summer.
- The Mid-America Program Service Center in KC, part of the SSA, is under a hiring freeze, despite rising caseloads.
What they're saying: SSA employee Garth Stocking, who is also the secretary of Kansas City-based American Federation of Government Employees Local 1336, said that at the SSA, "Morale is plummeting. Everybody who can is eyeing the exits."
- He said call times at the SSA are surging, casework is backing up, and the environment has shifted.
- "We no longer have anything like the strong, collaborative workplace we had before," Stocking said. "Everyone is stressed. Anxiety is through the roof."
Context: This isn't new for Kansas City. In 2019, the Trump administration relocated hundreds of USDA researchers to KC — and nearly 80% of those asked to relocate ended up quitting instead.
Between the lines: John Hurt, a benefit authorizer at the SSA, recently took a buyout after 16 years.
- He warned that the public won't notice the damage right away.
- "Everything's going to look normal for a while, maybe a year, maybe five. And then it's going to be dramatic. The infrastructure will be ripped out."
What's next: City leaders are stepping in. In March, Kansas City's council voted to fast-track hiring laid-off feds into local roles. On X, Mayor Quinton Lucas told federal workers, "We'd love to have you join us at the City."
- Roughly 17% of the city's municipal jobs are still unfilled.