Donald Trump is the first president in modern U.S. history to dramatically cut the federal workforce.
Posted by The Dan Bongino Show, Checked
- Sources
- 1 contradict4 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 55%
The Dan Bongino ShowOct 16, 2026
The claim's core trend is well supported: the federal workforce fell about 10-12% under Trump's second term, with more than 320,000 departures. The 'first president in modern history' framing is only partly corroborated: City Journal calls it the fastest decline since WWII and WDSU calls it the largest in two decades, but a 2018 GovExec piece says Reagan, George H.W.
A detail. The sources confirm the gist; the verdict faults a detail such as a date, number or wording.
What was said
… That's what the government calls food stamps. Chris Hines, SNAP usage is at its lowest level since 2009, 2009, has fallen by nearly 7 million since Donald Trump took office. Wow. People who are interested in a bloated federal workforce, President Trump's the first president modern US. History to dramatically cut the federal workforce. Well, what about the DOGE? There have been spending cuts, and they've been amazing spending cuts, but at least it's a start. The border, you got the reindustrialization of America, median household income up. …
The Dan Bongino Show · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. A 2018 GovExec analysis found Trump cut fewer federal jobs in his first year than Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Clinton did in their first years, undercutting the claim that he is the first to make such cuts.[3]
Supports. Reuters reports the civilian workforce shrank 12% between September 2024 and January 2026, reflecting Trump and DOGE's efforts to cut government jobs.[1]
Supports. Pew Research analysis of OPM data finds the federal workforce shrank 10.3% in 2025, a net loss of nearly 238,000 workers.[4]
Supports. WDSU reports the reduction is the largest of the federal workforce in the past two decades, per OPM data.[5]
Supports. City Journal describes the 12% drop as the fastest decline in federal employment since the end of World War II, which partly echoes the uniqueness framing.[6]
Context. Bloomberg Law and AP describe the cuts as large-scale, mainly driven by DOGE, buyouts and firings, though the sources do not use the 'first president' framing.[2][7]
Sources
7 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 5 not rated
- 1US government workforce shrinks by 12% since ...reuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2The push alerts of the first 100 days of the Trump ...apnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 3Trump Cut 13K Federal Jobs in First Year, But 3 of His ...govexec.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 4Federal workforce shrank 10% in Trump's first year back in ...pewresearch.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5DOGE, layoffs, buyouts: How Trump changed the federal workforcewdsu.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 6DOGE Achieved More than You Think - city-journal.orgcity-journal.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 7Without DOGE's Chainsaw, Federal Worker Cuts Lean on New Tacticsnews.bloomberglaw.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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