The civilian federal workforce, not including military personnel and postal workers, comprises about 2.4 million people. While a chunk of federal workers, about 20%, are in Washington, D.C., and the neighboring states of Maryland and Virginia, more than 80% are distributed outside the region.

The Trump administration moved swiftly to lay off thousands of government employees in at least six agencies Thursday, initiating a new and more aggressive phase of its push to shrink the federal workforce.

The Trump administration has intensified its sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce by ordering agencies to lay off all probationary employees who had not yet gained civil servic