Worker Policy Watch
Your source for accurate and reliable information on how federal policies are shaping workers’ rights—and what’s at stake for working people nationwide under the Trump administration.
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Departments of Justice and Interior Lose Thousands of Staff to Buyout Offers
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Department of the Interior are set to lose thousands of employees through buyout incentives and voluntary early retirement programs since the Trump-Musk DOGE program began. DOJ is set to lose some 4,500 employees. Roughly 11 percent of Interior employees have accepted buyouts, amounting to about 7,500 workers—more than 1,000 staffers each from the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and Bureau of Reclamation.
Impact:
While these buyout and early retirement programs are technically voluntary, they come in the coercive context of widespread funding cuts, layoffs, and threats of additional layoffs. Many federal workers are taking these offers rather than risk being laid off later. Meanwhile, the public loses out on the critical services provided by these workers—including civil rights and employment law enforcement work at DOJ—whom in many cases the administration does not plan to replace.
DOGE Cancels Plans to Close 10 NLRB Field Offices
In February, DOGE claimed that it would direct the General Services Administration (GSA) to terminate the leases of 10 local field offices of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). On June 17, GSA reversed course and said that the offices would remain open.
Impact:
The NLRB is the sole enforcer of our nation’s bedrock labor law, and workers rely on local field offices and their staff to adjudicate disputes and enforce the law. Trump has sought to gut the board’s capacity, including through the unprecedented removal of Board Member Gwynne Wilcox. Absent an effective NLRB, workers are even more vulnerable to employer violations of their right to organize.
National Archives and Records Administration Lays Off 100 Workers
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) told employees that it would cut about 3 percent of its staff, or about 100 employees.
Impact:
NARA is the federal agency tasked with preserving governmental and historical records, including those housed at presidential libraries. It performs an important transparency function, ensuring that records of events and government decisions are owned by and shared with the public.
DOGE Funding Cuts Force State-Level Layoffs
Cuts to federal grant programs driven by DOGE are causing significant layoffs to state agencies that rely in part on federal funding. In March, President Trump canceled $11.4 billion in Centers for Disease Control (CDC) grant funding originally intended for COVID-19 that many states were using for testing and reporting for bird flu, measles, and other infectious disease threats. And in April, DOGE gutted the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), which provided grants to libraries.
Impact:
State public health departments, library systems, and other agencies across the country (including in Utah, Virginia, Arkansas, Alaska, Washington, South Dakota, and Maine) have laid off staff and reduced critical public services. A federal judge halted the CDC cuts, but states have not received the money they were expecting. Nor has the administration changed course after a Government Accountability Office report found that withholding IMLS grant funding from recipients is illegal.
White House Threatens Massive Expansion of Worksite Immigration Enforcement
White House immigration advisor Tom Homan said in an interview that the administration plans to ramp up workplace immigration enforcement, and potentially target employers for civil and criminal prosecution.
Impact:
Homan said that in addition to targeting immigrant workers for deportation, the administration hoped to intimidate employers away from hiring immigrant workers and discourage immigrant workers from seeking employment.
Department of Education Transfers Responsibility for Grant Programs to DOL
The U.S. Departments of Labor and Education agreed to transfer funding for, and administration of, a suite of education grant programs. DOL will now administer some of the Department of Education’s career, technical, and adult education grants.
Impact:
This move comes as part of the Trump administration’s broader cuts to, and reorganization of, the federal government—which includes an effort to dismantle the Department of Education and cut its staff.
Revised OSHA Inspection Program Aims to Increase Likelihood of Worksite Inspections
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently updated its site-specific targeting inspection program to increase the likelihood of on-site inspections at warehousing, transportation, and healthcare facilities.
Impact:
Workers in these industries face significant rates of injury, and increased employer accountability from OSHA is a welcome development. However, there are questions about OSHA’s capacity to carry out the program given the Trump administration's efforts to downsize the federal government, including the U.S. Department of Labor, through layoffs and resignation incentives. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer has said that she has no plans to cut OSHA safety enforcement work, but workers across the agency have received buyout offers, and a significant number have taken them.
Food and Drug Administration Announces It No Longer Recognizes Federal Labor Unions and Will Not Bargain With Them
Workers in these unions, many of whom are facing layoffs, no longer have access to a grievance procedure or representation from their unions.
Impact:
The administration is trying to remove all union rights from tens of thousands of employees in this agency so it can fire them at will, contrary to federal law and their collective bargaining agreements.
Federal Court Stops the Abrupt Closure of All Jobs Corps Programs
Job Corps is a residential job-training program for young adults, including many who aged out of foster care, that serves people who are likely to have difficulty getting good jobs. Participants are housed, fed, and supported while learning important job skills, but the Trump administration sought to shutter the program immediately, which would have left potentially thousands of people homeless.
Impact:
Over 60,000 young adults depend on this program annually.
Supreme Court Allows DOGE to Access Social Security Information
DOGE staff now have access to Social Security numbers, medical records, and tax and banking information for all Social Security number holders in the United States.
Impact:
The privacy concerns are staggering, and data breaches or leaks could have drastic impacts on workers throughtout the country.