Amanda Aronchik

After the break, if we cut every single federal job that Trump wants, how much money would that save?

So the last time a president really focused on shrinking the size of the government was 32 years ago with Elaine K. Mark leading the effort. So she does have like unique insight into what the Trump administration is doing now. Are you just like the most sought after you've ever been in a long time? Well...

So the last time a president really focused on shrinking the size of the government was 32 years ago with Elaine K. Mark leading the effort. So she does have like unique insight into what the Trump administration is doing now. Are you just like the most sought after you've ever been in a long time? Well...

So the last time a president really focused on shrinking the size of the government was 32 years ago with Elaine K. Mark leading the effort. So she does have like unique insight into what the Trump administration is doing now. Are you just like the most sought after you've ever been in a long time? Well...

The Trump administration says there are too many. So we asked Elaine, just how much money can you save by cutting jobs? And she says, here's one way to think about it. Let's say you cut every single federal worker. There were no more federal jobs, none. The U.S. would save $271 billion a year. That's salaries and benefits. $271 billion, that's how much we spend a year on federal employees?

The Trump administration says there are too many. So we asked Elaine, just how much money can you save by cutting jobs? And she says, here's one way to think about it. Let's say you cut every single federal worker. There were no more federal jobs, none. The U.S. would save $271 billion a year. That's salaries and benefits. $271 billion, that's how much we spend a year on federal employees?

The Trump administration says there are too many. So we asked Elaine, just how much money can you save by cutting jobs? And she says, here's one way to think about it. Let's say you cut every single federal worker. There were no more federal jobs, none. The U.S. would save $271 billion a year. That's salaries and benefits. $271 billion, that's how much we spend a year on federal employees?

On federal employees, yep. That is everything, okay? $271 billion sounds big, and it is big, but for context, it's like 4% of the federal budget. 65% of the federal budget goes to paying for work. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the other things the U.S. has to pay for, mandatory spending, right?

On federal employees, yep. That is everything, okay? $271 billion sounds big, and it is big, but for context, it's like 4% of the federal budget. 65% of the federal budget goes to paying for work. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the other things the U.S. has to pay for, mandatory spending, right?

On federal employees, yep. That is everything, okay? $271 billion sounds big, and it is big, but for context, it's like 4% of the federal budget. 65% of the federal budget goes to paying for work. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the other things the U.S. has to pay for, mandatory spending, right?

We pay trillions and trillions of dollars out in those benefits every year, which Elon Musk did just say may be next. But the point is, federal jobs are just not the expensive stuff.

We pay trillions and trillions of dollars out in those benefits every year, which Elon Musk did just say may be next. But the point is, federal jobs are just not the expensive stuff.

We pay trillions and trillions of dollars out in those benefits every year, which Elon Musk did just say may be next. But the point is, federal jobs are just not the expensive stuff.

OK, but to be fair, if we only look at the official federal jobs, that doesn't really give us the whole picture because there is another kind of like hidden category of worker doing government-ish work that the government also pays for, federal contractors.

OK, but to be fair, if we only look at the official federal jobs, that doesn't really give us the whole picture because there is another kind of like hidden category of worker doing government-ish work that the government also pays for, federal contractors.

OK, but to be fair, if we only look at the official federal jobs, that doesn't really give us the whole picture because there is another kind of like hidden category of worker doing government-ish work that the government also pays for, federal contractors.

We have more contractors than civil servants.

We have more contractors than civil servants.

We have more contractors than civil servants.

We don't actually know how many federal contractors there are. According to Elaine's estimates, there are 2.7 million individual contract workers. Some say more. And that is on top of the official federal employee numbers. And contract workers have been losing their jobs, too, when the Trump administration stopped paying some of its contracts.