washington president donald trump campaign shrink bloat federal bureaucracy far make small dent federal workforce largely decline civilian defense job days jan. 20 inauguration trump order hire freeze late replace order federal agencies cut staff immediately march propose 2018 budget seek shift 54 billion military departments however federal civilian job decline around 6,000 first nine months year 0.3 percent 2.1 million job track office personnel management accord reuters calculations base late opm data publish late october white house office management budget decline comment overall drop federal employment mix job gain losses across agencies office issue april order agencies start near-term staff cut submit plan longer-term reductions september trump detail much fat aim cut speak billions billions dollars government waste aim shrink bloat federal bureaucracy prepare budget proposals march independent watchdogs agree federal government could make efficient congress government accountability office estimate april overlap duplication lead tens billions dollars unnecessary spend trump democrats barack obama bill clinton republican george w. bush spearhead various efforts streamline government bureaucracy david lewis political science professor vanderbilt university say year number show trump executive order limit power reshape federal bureaucracy ultimately congress control budget big sway agencies staff say lewis whose research largely focus executive branch politics public administration white house say agencies longer-term workforce reduction plan serve develop trump 2019 budget proposal overall decline federal staff year largely due roughly 9,500 drop department defense 731,000 1.3 percent decline even though trump budget proposal envisage small increase 2016 2018 employment measure hours work pentagon spokesman dave eastburn say hire slow white house-ordered freeze exemptions allow recruitment mission-critical position military readiness never affect describe decrease staff year well within historical norms fact number active-duty service personnel exempt hire freeze grow 7,000 12 months september accord defense department data still cut civilian staff could push work onto relatively expensive contractors military officer potentially raise cost time say scott amey general counsel project government oversight non-partisan watchdog group cut job cut job mistake likely make amey say review reuters calculations opm data mallory barg bulman researcher partnership public service non-partisan nonprofit say target number job general best way improve bureaucracy work hire freeze answer make government effective say barg bulman instead agencies invest train boost productivity say opm figure exclude postal service small independent agencies show decline part offset staff gain total 9,000 homeland security veterans affairs departments much gain divisions control immigration medical care former soldier areas trump identify priorities department veterans affairs respond request comment spokeswoman department homeland security say staff increase owe revise recruitment strategies well temporary hire hurricane relief efforts staff up down agencies part long-standing budget issue seasonal factor treasury department lose staff largely due budget cut order congress past years tax collection service departments interior agriculture saw increase due seasonal hire version story refiled clarify description partnership public service paragraph 15 trump 's push cut federal job modest impact mostly defense