The federal government’s human resources office shed more than a third of its total workforce so far under the second Trump administration and is seeking further staffing cuts through another round of voluntary separation incentives.
The Office of Personnel Management shrank its total headcount by 35% between December 2024 and March 2026, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office.
In its analysis of federal workforce data, GAO found that more than half of OPM employees who left during this period had 11 or more years of service.
“These actions have reduced institutional knowledge and operational capacity at the agency,” GAO wrote, adding that these staffing cuts may worsen skills gaps it previously flagged at OPM.
Nearly 60% of OPM employees who have left under the second Trump administration did so through the deferred resignation program. Layoffs through a reduction in force account for 10% of OPM’s staffing cuts.
OPM is pursuing further workforce cuts. Last month, the agency announced it would give employees in its healthcare and insurance division another shot at opting into the deferred resignation program.
OPM set a July 13 deadline for eligible employees to opt in to the latest DRP offer. But employees age 40 or older have until Aug. 27 to consider the agreement. OPM employees accepted into this round of the DRP will go on paid administrative leave, starting at the end of August, and will officially separate from the agency in March 2027.
An OPM employee who opted into the latest DRP offer said it’s not yet clear how many coworkers have made the same decision.
“We are all curious, but no one is sharing unless they’re fully committed to staying,” the OPM employee said.
The latest DRP offer comes a few months before OPM’s busy Open Season, a one-month period in which federal and Postal Service employees can make changes to their healthcare plans.
Open Season starts in November and ends in December. Health plan changes made during this period go into effect in January.
An OPM spokesperson did not specify how many employees have opted into the latest DRP offer, but said in a statement that “we feel very confident in our staffing levels and OPM’s ability to deliver on a successful open season.”
Amid these workforce cuts, OPM has seen some processing delays.
OPM has been rolling out a long-awaited online system for federal retirees and marked its “last day” of paper-based processing this month. But federal employees who accepted the DRP offer last year are still waiting on OPM to finalize their retirement paperwork.
A former IRS employee who took the deferred resignation program last year said she is still waiting for her retirement checks to arrive.
“Those of us in this position have been forced to drain our savings, withdraw money from our 401(k)s and use credit cards to pay bills while waiting for our retirement checks to start,” she said.
The retired IRS employee said agency management held several meetings with employees about the deferred resignation offer and what it would mean for employees. But she said that “waiting almost a year for your retirement checks to process was not part of that discussion.”
She said she wouldn’t have taken the DRP offer if she knew she’d be waiting this long for her paperwork to be processed.
A former federal employee who retired from the National Cancer Institute last year said that OPM has not yet fully processed his retirement application. An OPM representative recently told him that his application has been adjudicated, but is still waiting to be reviewed.
“I can’t help but wonder how many retirees are in the same boat,” the former NCI employee said.
An OPM spokesperson said the agency “remains committed to ensuring federal retirees receive the benefits they have earned while modernizing a decades-old retirement processing system,” and that the transition from a paper-based system will reduce processing times and provide a better experience for retirees.
GAO’s report found OPM’s retirement services office saw a 16% staffing decrease between fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2026.
OPM, earlier this year, proposed taking over the work of adjudicating the appeals of certain terminated federal employees from the Merit Systems Protection Board. But OPM’s Merit System Accountability & Compliance division, which would take on this work, has seen a more than 40% staffing cut.
OPM, in its FY 2027 budget justification, proposed using AI tools and modernizing its IT systems to carry out its work with fewer staff.
GAO wrote that it requested additional documents from OPM regarding its reorganization efforts and the rationale behind closing or consolidating offices, but OPM officials did not provide any of the requested documents, meet with GAO officials, or respond to GAO’s written questions.
Dawn Locke, the director of GAO’s Strategic Issues Team, said OPM provided additional information after GAO released its report on Monday. Locke said GAO requested this information from OPM more than five months ago, and has not yet had an opportunity to review the materials that OPM just submitted.
