The Trump-Musk War on Federal Workers Could Hit Rural America hard.
239 rural counties from all over the nation have local economies driven by federal and state government employees.
President Donald Trump, through Elon Musk’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has spent much of the first few weeks of his term implementing executive orders and policies that will downsize the federal workforce while dismantling the capacity of many federal agencies. A major component of these executive actions has been Trump’s offer to buy out thousands of federal employees with resignation packages. Many rural communities could be severely impacted by proposed government job losses.
USDA’s Economic Research Service defines “Federal/State government-dependent counties” as those with 14% or more of the county’s annual labor and wage income coming from government workers. The following map documents the geographic diversity of government-dependent counties nationwide:
While the vast majority of federal workers employed by Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, or the Department of Defense, many federal agencies that specifically serve rural America could suffer deep job losses from Trump and Musk’s proposed “deferred resignation” offer to civilian government employees. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has thousands of employees in rural counties nationwide, providing service to farmers and rural economic developers. The U.S. Forest Service employs many rural workers, including thousands of firefighters. The Department of Interior, likewise, hires many rural workers to manage parks, preserves, other public land.
According to USDA’s most recent budget proposal, the department has a large number of employees in the following agencies that could be at risk:
Farm Service Agency (FSA)—10,485 workers (FTE: full-time equivalents).
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)—13,901 workers (FTE: full-time equivalents).
USDA Rural Development—4,671 workers (FTE: full-time equivalents).
U.S. Forest Service (USFS)—33,851 workers (FTE: full-time equivalents).
The deferred resignation plan is being challenged by federal workers’ unions. U.S. District Judge George O'Toole will hear arguments on the case today in Boston. The unions argue that the resignation plans are not legal because Congress has not approved the Trump-Musk proposal.
There is currently no data available to determine how many federal workers considering the deferred resignation offer live and work in rural counties.
There are serious legal questions about many of DOGE’s actions in the past month. Congress has not authorized DOGE as a department or agency, nor has the legislative branch authorized a DOGE budget.
The Cocklebur covers rural policy and politics from a progressive point-of-view. Our work focuses on a tangled rural political reality of dishonest debate, economic and racial disparities, corporate power over our democracy, and disinformation peddled by conservative media outlets. We aim to use facts, data, and science to inform our point-of-view. We wear our complicated love/WTF relationship with rural America on our sleeve.
The Reckless Purge: Firing Thousands Without a Plan
Leadership isn’t about destruction for the sake of optics. It isn’t about grand gestures that grab headlines but leave chaos in their wake. And yet, here we are—watching the mass firing of thousands of federal employees, with zero plan for how to replace the critical work they did.
This isn’t efficiency.
This isn’t reform.
This is self-sabotage on a national scale.
The cost of this reckless publicity stunt will far outweigh any short-term PR benefit. The narrative of “draining the swamp” or “saving the country” collapses under the weight of staggering incompetencewhen there’s no plan to fill the void left behind.
What Happens When Expertise is Erased?
For decades, the federal workforce has been a backbone of stability, ensuring the daily functions of government—regardless of which party holds power. These are not nameless bureaucrats sitting idly at desks. These are scientists, policy experts, national security analysts, air traffic controllers, financial regulators, disaster response coordinators, and public health officials.
Now, thousands of them are gone.
So what happens next?
• Social Security & Medicare delays – Processing claims and benefits doesn’t happen by itself. Cutting staff means seniors and disabled Americans will wait longer for the assistance they need.
• Disaster relief failure – Who will coordinate FEMA responses when the next hurricane, wildfire, or earthquake devastates a community?
• Regulatory collapse – Without oversight, corporations will run unchecked, environmental protections will vanish, and those like Elon Musk will take full advantage of the chaos.
• National security risks – Intelligence analysts don’t simply appear overnight. Gaps in counterterrorism, cyber defense, and military logistics could take years to rebuild—if they ever recover at all.
And let’s not forget the thousands of lawsuits, contract breaches, and financial penalties that will arise when fired employees contest their dismissals—or when government programs fail to meet their legal obligations.
The cost? Billions. The damage? Immeasurable.
Destroying to Rebuild… What, Exactly?
If there were a plan—a streamlined approach to reassign roles, retrain workers, and ensure continuity of essential functions—perhaps there would be room for debate. But this isn’t a plan—it’s a demolition.
Who takes over?
Are we outsourcing national security to unvetted private contractors? Will corporate executives step in to “regulate” themselves? Will loyalists with zero qualifications be installed into positions where competence should matter more than allegiance?
There is no strategy—just chaos for chaos’ sake.
This Isn’t “Draining the Swamp.” It’s Drowning the Country.
Tearing down institutions without a plan is not reform. It is deliberate destabilization.
For all the talk of “fighting corruption”, this purge ensures that those with the most power now have even fewer checks on their actions. The system isn’t being saved—it’s being set on fire.
And the ones who will suffer the most? The everyday citizens who rely on these institutions to function.
Public servants weren’t the problem. But the reckless destruction of government just might be.
If the goal is to dismantle democracy and rebuild something unrecognizable, then mission accomplished.
But if the goal is to serve the American people, then this is the gravest failure of leadership in modern history. 🌗✨