How many federal workers have been fired in Alabama? Here’s what we found

More than 100 days into President Donald Trump’s second term, there’s no official count of how many of Alabama’s federal workers have been fired.

The Trump administration’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency hasn’t published specific numbers, and neither have other federal government agencies. A spokesperson for the Alabama Department of Workforce said they couldn’t provide the numbers. And neither could the labor union that supports federal workers in Alabama.

“Local Presidents have tried FOIA request and talking to Labor Relations officers with the agencies,” said Jonathan Mungo, a legislative and political organizer for the American Federation of Government Employees. “It seems to be a concerted effort [to] hide actual numbers.”

From 2019-2023 Alabama was home to 94,000 federal workers on average, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The federal Office of Personnel Management, which doesn’t count contractors or intelligence workers, tallied 41,000 federal workers in Alabama as of September 2024.

Trump returned to office in January, vowing to slash the federal workforce. Since then, the Trump administration has fired at least 58,000 federal workers nationwide, with more than 76,000 taking buyouts, the New York Times reported.

The buyouts were supported by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and 21 other states. And more firing waves are expected to come in the weeks ahead.

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U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, a Democrat who represents Birmingham and parts of west Alabama, has slammed the firing of Social Security office workers in Alabama, calling it a “reckless power trip” by Elon Musk, the head of DOGE.

Some of the layoffs are still in flux, after judges issued court orders requiring certain affected agencies to hire back thousands of probationary workers and place some of them on administrative leave.

Across the country, it’s still unclear exactly how many agencies have been impacted by the cuts, and in which locations those cuts took place.

Most of the federal workforce is located outside Washington, D.C., the Washington Post reported.

Alabama’s federal workers are scattered around the state, reaching far beyond the concentrated clusters at sites like Huntsville’s Redstone Arsenal.

Among them are the people who answer phones at the Social Security Administration and rural field office workers for the Department of Agriculture. Others are based at the Anniston Army Depot and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said Tatishka Thomas, a national vice president for the government workers labor union.

“They are parents, taxpayers, homeowners, consumers of goods and services, and they will not be able to stimulate the local economy,” Thomas said in a statement. “This will set off a domino effect that will affect millions of Alabama residents.”

Firing federal employees will have long-term effects for the state of Alabama, she said.

“You can’t fire the employees at the Birmingham SSA call center and expect senior citizens to go online and solve their problems. You can’t abolish the Department of Education (which provides over $1.35 billion to Alabama) and expect teachers to keep their jobs,” Thomas told AL.com in an emailed statement. “You can’t eliminate several CDC divisions, such as those responsible for STD prevention, sexual violence prevention, and youth drug prevention, where 70 to 80 percent of funding goes to state and county health departments, and then claim that this will improve the health of Americans.”

The federal government — the country’s largest employer – counted roughly 3 million workers nationwide, including employees of the U.S. Postal Service, as of November 2024. At the start of Trump’s second term, his administration started offering buyouts to thousands of workers who were recently hired, as well as some long-time employees.

Federal workers have recounted mental health distress, financial strain and unemployment benefits limbo after losing their jobs. An Alabama woman who worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Anniston said she now spends her days donating plasma and looking for substitute teaching jobs to make money after being fired by DOGE.

U.S. Rep. Dale Strong, a Republican who represents Huntsville and other parts of north Alabama, has spoken optimistically about the cuts. He said Huntsville’s defense industry and diverse economy can help offset the loss in federal jobs.

“The big thing we’re trying to do is reduce the national debt,” Strong said in February. “I still believe Space Command is coming to our area. And then you hear talk about Iron Dome. That right there is Alabama. These jobs, while we may lose a couple, we will gain many of them in the end.”

In Alabama, the Army employs the most federal civilian workers, making up 42% of Alabama’s federal workforce, according to the Office of Personnel Management. That data doesn’t count contractors, intelligence workers, military personnel or postal workers.

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Behind the Army is the Department of Veterans Affairs, with nearly 8,200 employees, and the Department of Defense, with nearly 4,400 employees in Alabama. Other top federal employers include the Social Security Administration, with 2,500 employees, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), with more than 2,300 employees in Alabama, per that data.