President Donald Trump and his DOGE director, Elon Musk, are having their way with reducing the number of federal employees to reduce the federal budget, arguing that the federal bureaucracy is too large and unwieldy, causing waste, inefficiencies and corruption. I will make no attempt to deal with the corruption issue and wait to see evidence. However, I can shed light on the issue of the size of the federal government by looking back a few decades. History can often help put things in perspective.
In 1970, there were approximately 2.8 million federal civilian employees serving a U.S. population of 203.4 million people. In 2024, there were 3 million federal civilian employees serving a U.S. population that had grown to 341 million. This is a substantial increase in the country’s population with virtually no increase in federal civilian employment. Quite remarkable, I would say.
Federal civilian employment amounts to only 1.9% of total U.S. nonagricultural employment today. If the military is added, total federal employment amounts to only about 4% of total U.S nonagricultural employment. A simple mathematical calculation tells us that in 1970 there was one federal employee for every 72.6 citizens. By 2024, the calculation shows that there was one federal employee for every 113.7 citizens. In other words, by 2024, the typical federal employee was serving 41.1 more citizens than in 1970. Though this does not prove all federal employees are necessary or efficient, it does give room for pause when talking about a bloated and overstaffed federal workforce.
Another perspective: In 1970, the federal budget stood at $195.3 billion administered by those 2.2 million federal employees just mentioned. This means that there were approximately $88,773 budget dollars for every federal employee.
By 2024, the budget had grown significantly, but federal employment had not. The federal budget had skyrocketed to $6.75 trillion, though federal employment increased by only 200,000. In other words, there were approximately $2.9 million budget dollars for every federal employee, a huge increase in federal dollars per federal employee when compared to that of 1970. Also important is the fact that this huge increase in the federal budget did not go to federal employees. Over the years, federal wages have remained about the same relative to private sector wages.
Today, about 8-9% of the total federal budget goes to wages, benefits and retirement for federal workers, including military. So, if this significant increase in budget dollars did not go to federal employment increases nor federal employee wages, where did it go?
The answer is simple. It has gone to us — U.S. citizens — you and me. Social Security accounts for $1.1 trillion, or 22% of the federal budget; Medicare $848 billion, or 13%; and Medicaid $633 billion, or 11%. In total these three programs account for almost half — 46% — of the federal budget. In 1970, these three programs accounted for only 22% (less than a quarter) of the federal budget.
Social Security and Medicare alone account for 35% of the budget. Yes, 35% of the federal budget goes to serve elderly people (like me) who now account for 17% of the population. In 2025, Social Security will serve 69 million recipients, and Medicare will serve 68.2 million.
I am not saying that all federal employees are necessary or there is no waste or inefficiency in the federal government, but inefficiencies exist in virtually all institutions — public and private. However, I am trying to help us understand that it is federal services and programs to us, the citizens of the United States, that are the causes for the huge increase in the federal budget. These increases in spending have created a huge federal deficit — now $36 trillion — because these large increases in federal programs have not been supported by tax increases but by deficit spending.
There is a quote made famous by cartoonist Walt Kelly, said through his character Pogo: “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” Does this statement have validity today? I think so.