A clear majority of Washington, D.C.-area residents say the Trump administration’s federal workforce reductions have dealt a blow to their households, according to a new survey from Gallup and the Greater Washington Community Foundation.
The poll of 2,801 adults across the District and its surrounding suburbs found that 55 percent reported a negative impact from the shrinking federal payroll over the past year. The pain was most acute inside the District itself, where two-thirds of respondents said they had been hurt. In Arlington County and Alexandria, Va., 62 percent reported negative consequences.
Only 4 percent of respondents across the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia region said the cuts had benefited them, while 41 percent said they felt no effect.
The reductions stemmed from the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the Elon Musk-led initiative that drove a government-wide downsizing in the early months of President Trump’s second term. Agencies issued thousands of layoffs and offered buyouts, though hundreds of federal employees were later rehired last fall or kept their jobs through litigation. The federal civilian workforce has fallen from more than 2.3 million in 2024 to just over 2 million this year, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
The Defense Department employs roughly one-third of federal workers, followed by Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, Justice and Treasury as the largest agencies.
DOGE claimed $215 billion in savings, or about $1,335 per U.S. taxpayer. But the survey suggests the economic strain on the capital region has mounted. About 20 percent of District residents said they accessed social services for the first time in the past year, compared with 14 percent across the DMV. In Prince George’s County, Md., 23 percent reported first-time use of such services.
Black and Hispanic residents were far more likely to seek help: 25 percent and 20 percent, respectively, versus 6 percent of white residents and 12 percent of Asian residents.
“This region has real strength, and real strain, and both are true at the same time,” Tonia Wellons, president of the Greater Washington Community Foundation, said in a press release. “Residents told us exactly where they need help: housing, jobs, and real investment in their communities.”
The findings come as federal workers and their families continue to navigate a shifting landscape. Some have turned to Congress for relief, with proposals like a bipartisan tax credit for film jobs reflecting broader efforts to protect domestic employment. Others have watched as the administration faces legal challenges, including a federal judge’s order on press access that underscores the tense political environment in Washington.
The Gallup survey was conducted from Feb. 9 to April 6 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points for the full sample.
