More than 2 million US citizens are employed by the federal government.

Donald Trump made many promises on the campaign trail during the 2024 election. One of these promises included dramatically downsizing the federal government and its workers. When Trump won re-election and soon thereafter took office, he installed Elon Musk to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to fulfill this promise.

In the state of North Carolina, there are more than 50,000 federal employees. On Jan. 28, President Trump made a buyout offer to all federal employees where they were granted eight months of pay and benefits if they resigned by Feb. 6, which 75,000 did. On Feb. 11, Trump signed an executive order ordering governmental agencies to significantly reduce their workforce — many listened.

North Carolina’s 50,000 federal employees work for various government sectors. The top sectors include nursing (4,046 workers), miscellaneous administration and programs (2,041 workers) and information technology management (1,094 workers). 

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One area impacted significantly by these layoffs is the National Park Service. The National Park Service has made efforts to restore North Carolina’s national parks in the wake of Hurricane Helene. 12 probationary employees were reportedly let go from Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and nearly a dozen other employees were fired from other park agencies. Potential impacts of these layoffs include longer wait times at entrance stations and reduced visitor center hours. 

Another impacted agency is Veterans Affairs (VA). It has been reported that multiple employees were terminated at both the Durham VA and VA Coastal Health Care in Fayetteville. There are also reports that 14 probationary employees at Asheville’s VA Medical Center have been laid off. The article notes that the employees were “supply technicians” who, as the VA mentioned earlier, were invaluable in caring for the veterans of the community.

The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), which covers states including North Carolina, have experienced layoffs. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), overseen by the NCEI and which oversees the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center, recently reported the termination of nine probationary employees who work at NOAA’s office in Asheville, North Carolina. Another nine agreed to accept Trump’s buyout offer. 

North Carolina Governor Josh Stein referenced the disastrous impacts of Hurricane Helene in an email to the Citizen-Times about the NOAA layoffs. 

“Given all eastern and western North Carolina has been through, cuts that hamper our ability to prepare for future natural disasters should be entirely off the table,” Stein wrote. 

Trump has received mixed results from legal authorities regarding these agency firings. After labor unions filed suits to block the Trump administration from carrying out mass layoffs at federal agencies in mid-February, a federal judge blocked it, citing that a federal court was not an appropriate forum for the suit. However, in mid-March, U.S. District Judge James Bredar argued that Trump’s firings were illegal and ordered that the workers be reinstated. 

As a result, the Trump Administration reinstated nearly 25,000 fired federal workers. Some North Carolina workers were restored, though many remained fired.

These changes to the federal workforce during Trump’s administration have made a significant impact, igniting discussions about governmental efficiency and the subsequent human cost of these reforms. As North Carolina and the rest of the country reckon with the consequences, only time will reveal the true impact these layoffs will have.