Meg Kinnard and Kevin S. Vineys, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Private federal government jobs are being cut by thousands as Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency continues to shrink government workforce at the request of President Donald Trump.
It has brought a lot of termination and uncertainty to the country’s capital. There, the country’s more than 2 million civilians or non-military workers are located there.
It also affects workers and communities outside the Washington, D.C. area, with about 80% of that workforce being based. These cuts mean that members of Congress are currently facing potential anxiety among federal employees outside the workplace in districts across the country.
While the exact locations of all the thousands of federal employees currently working are not yet known, looking at the areas where private US government jobs are most concentrated, we can get a glimpse into the places that could be most affected.
This is a breakdown of national federal government jobs by numbers, examining data from the Census Bureau’s estimates as of 2023.
The DC area, represented by the Democratic Party, has the highest concentration of federal workers.
It’s no surprise that the District of Columbia has the highest percentage of federal workers, making up 18.5% of the total workforce.
And areas just outside the city called DMV, which includes Washington and parts of Maryland and Virginia, are the most concentrated among federal workers, with the top nine districts with a federal workforce ranging from 18.2% to 8.4%. Most of these districts are represented by Democrats. That is, some of the areas that are likely to have the most significant impact from the DOGE cut are represented by that party, albeit in the DC region.
The highest proportion of federal workforce is Maryland’s fifth district, represented by Democrat Steny Heuer. There, approximately 18.2% of all workers are employed by the federal government.
Republican districts are also affected
After the district closest to Washington, DC, there is a GOP expression area with a high proportion of federal workers.
Virginia’s second district, represented by Republican Rep. Jennifer Kiggans, is 8.1%, the GOP area with the most concentrated federal workers along the state’s southeastern border with North Carolina. Its home to Virginia Beach and its massive presence in the US Navy is considered one of the most politically competitive districts in the country.
Central Oklahoma District 4, represented by GOP Rep. Tom Cole, has a workforce employed by 7.7% by the federal government. The district is home to Fort Sil Army Post and Tinker Air Force Base, the latter of which includes the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Facility. According to Tinker’s website, Oklahoma’s largest single-site employer has the complex supported dozens of other air force bases.
Federal employees account for 7.6% of Alabama’s District 5 workforce, including Huntsville, and are represented by Republican Rep. Dale Strong. The area includes NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. This has helped rocket engineering and US space exploration efforts from the Saturn Rockets Integral Mission, the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station laboratory module.
The data discussed here are not directly related to military work. Thousands of civilian government officials across the country work near or in obsessive areas.
Alaska, represented by large Republicans, has a high concentration
Rep. Nick Begich, Alaska’s only U.S. Rep., represents a state with a total federal workforce of 6.3%.
Scott Goldsmith, an economist at Anchorage at the University of Alaska, describes the state’s economy as a “three-legged stool” and balanced by three components: the oil and gas industry, the federal government and all subsequent industries.
The federal government manages a significant amount of land in Alaska. Workers are employed by the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and more.
New Mexico has the highest percentage of federal workers in all districts
All three House districts in New Mexico are represented by Democrats, and they all have a vital federal workforce.
According to the New Mexico partnership, two major federal research institutes, Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory, are located in the state where the federal government is the second largest employer.
The proportion of federal workers across the district ranges from 6.3% in Rep. Teresa Legger Fernandez’s District 3 to 6.2% in Rep. Gabriel Vazquez’s District 2. In District 1, represented by Rep. Melanie Anne Stansbury, the workforce is 6.8% federal employees.
Original issue: February 27, 2025, 4:32pm
