I remember back in the Bush administration days when the talk was all about reducing the federal workforce through attrition only. Anything beyond leaving a few vacant positions unfilled was considered too ambitious.

So when I see what the Trump administration has planned in terms of eliminating thousands of government positions, it’s really striking. The Washington Post today mentions the discussion of eliminating 2,300 State Department workers. Apparently this is to come not just from the larger pool of 75,000 overall (including foreign workers who serve at overseas facilities), but from among just the 24,000 American civil and foreign service positions. That’s actually almost a ten percent cut, and it involves a (probably wise) consolidation with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).