Thousands of energy and environmental agency staffers left their jobs under a Trump administration program aimed at slashing the size of the federal workforce.
More than 10,700 employees resigned from EPA and the Interior and Energy departments under the administration’s “deferred resignation program” that offered workers incentives to leave their jobs, according to the most recent data published by the Office of Personnel Management.
The latest figures — including information about staff departures through the end of January — offer the clearest picture yet of the extent of the Trump administration’s workforce reductions across energy and environmental agencies.
Across the government, about 136,800 federal workers left their jobs under the resignation program, according to the administration. More people may be added to that tally, but it’s not expected to increase significantly, OPM spokesperson McLaurine Pinover said Thursday in an email.
Here’s a breakdown of OPM’s staffing numbers at energy and environmental agencies from Jan. 20, 2025, through Jan. 31, 2026:
EPA
- Total separations: 4,378
- Deferred resignation program separations: 2,624
- New hires: 166
- Total workforce change: -4,212
Interior Department
- Total separations: 19,733
- Deferred resignation program separations: 6,373
- New hires: 8,667
- Total workforce change: -11,066
Energy Department
- Total separations: 3,197
- Deferred resignation program separations: 1,790
- New hires: 366
- Total workforce change: -2,831
Overall, the federal workforce is down about 264,200 employees since the first day of Trump’s second term on Jan. 20, 2025, the OPM data shows.
