President Donald Trump's administration reduced the federal government workforce to 2.68 million employees by September 2026 while instituting aggressive policy changes. The Department of Justice faces severe attorney shortages alongside a 63 percent caseload surge driven by mandatory migrant detention policies and denaturalization efforts. Concurrently, Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency pushed broad federal downsizing, while Trump distributed $500 checks ahead of midterm elections.
Federal workforce reduction
- ▪The Department of Justice civil division experienced broad staffing losses during President Donald Trump's administration as waves of federal attorneys departed the department.
- ▪In September 2026, the United States federal government workforce dropped to 2.68 million employees, including Postal Service workers but excluding active military personnel.
DOJ immigration litigation surge
- ▪Monthly federal habeas corpus petitions filed by detained migrants increased from 105 in March 2025 to over 9,000 cases in March 2026.
- ▪Caseloads for the Department of Justice Office of Immigration Litigation increased 63 percent, growing from approximately 7,700 to nearly 9,500 active cases during the Trump administration.
- ▪Asylum grant rates in federal immigration courts dropped to 5.5 percent as of June 2026, down from the low 30s under the Biden administration.
- ▪Between late August and early October 2026, the Department of Justice filed 40 denaturalization complaints, advancing toward an internal goal of 300 total cases.
Immigration litigation attorney shortage
- ▪Nine of 11 federal appellate circuit courts have ruled against the Trump administration's policy terminating bond hearings for detained migrants.
- ▪Federal judges ruled in favor of detained migrants over 15,000 times in habeas corpus cases through June 2026, compared to 2,200 rulings supporting the Trump administration.
- ▪Staffing at the Department of Justice Office of Immigration Litigation fell from 320 attorneys at the start of the Trump administration down to 243 by August 2026.
Trump detention policies
- ▪The Trump administration ended standard bond hearings for detained migrants, eliminating judicial evaluations of whether individual detainees posed flight risks or public safety threats.
- ▪Nearly 70,000 migrants were held in federal detention facilities as of October 2026 under the Trump administration's expanded detention efforts.
DOGE bureaucracy restructuring
- ▪Chief Privacy Officer Kathleen Walters resigned from the Internal Revenue Service after opposing efforts by Department of Government Efficiency staff and Trump appointees to share taxpayer data with immigration enforcement.
- ▪The Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, offered buyout payouts to permanent federal employees and attempted to fire probationary staff across multiple government agencies.
- ▪A federal court ruled that the Internal Revenue Service's sharing of confidential taxpayer address data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents was illegal.
Midterm election economic messaging
- ▪In October 2026, President Donald Trump distributed $500 direct payment checks to nearly 1 million residents across 30 states ahead of the midterm elections.
- ▪President Donald Trump issued the $500 direct payments as refunds for Affordable Care Act fees alongside promotional letters detailing his administration's record.
Debatable claims
- ▪DOGE's federal workforce cuts did more harm than good to agency operations
- ▪The Trump administration should restore individual bond hearings for detained migrants
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