Regarding the federal government, conservatives and libertarians in today’s America have two main beefs. Both complaints are entirely reasonable, and – contrary to the favorite narrative spread by progressives – both are distinctly anti-fascist. First, the government is far too big. Second, it has been almost entirely weaponized against the opponents of leftist and statist ideologies, which are practically one and the same. But is either of these criticisms justified? Reactions to the State Department layoffs affecting 1,353 federal workers on Friday, July 11, certainly seem to confirm that, in both cases, the right is, well, right.
In the private sector, people lose their jobs all the time. It is simply a fact of life. It could be a performance or behavioral issue or a result of automation, restructuring, or downsizing. The bottom line is that every single person employed by a private company or corporation is at the mercy of his or her bosses, the CEO, a board of directors, and even the shareholders. No one, not even the most senior executive, is entitled to their job.
State Department Layoffs Expose the Resistors
There is no good reason why government employees should consider themselves immune to these same employment conditions. Government, at all levels, breeds a culture of entitlement, however – and perhaps nowhere more than in Washington, DC. The outrage and histrionics that followed the State Department layoffs perfectly encapsulated this mentality. Fired employees hung infantile notes around the offices before they departed. These messages repeated a common theme. One sign, affixed to doors and windows in various spots read:
“Colleagues, if you remain:
RESIST FASCISM
Remember the oath you vowed to uphold”
How downsizing the federal workforce constitutes fascism isn’t clear, since fascists dedicate themselves to creating massive, all-powerful central governments that operate stifling bureaucracies. What these parting messages do indicate, however, is that the executive branch of the United States government is indeed extensively infested by left-wing political activists. Accusing their political opponents of fascism has become the standard practice of elected Democrats and progressives in general. The sheer irony of it is lost on them, the people who want more – not less – government, laws, and regulations, and try at every turn to silence dissent. So, one may reasonably translate “resist fascism,” in this case, as, “resist the Trump administration.”
Democrats have been trying to hammer home the notion that these State Department layoffs are crippling the US government’s ability to fight for democracy and human rights across the globe. Never mind that it is not – and should not – be America’s job to impose any particular political system on any other country, the idea that these cuts mark a weakening of American influence abroad is simply not grounded in reality. Journalist and commentator Byron York looked at State Department records, posting on X a clear debunking of the claim that the layoffs were damaging:
“Looking at State Department documents, it appears the department went from 57,340 total employees in 2007 to 72,895 in 2015 to 80,214 in 2024. So it grew by nearly 23,000 employees before the ‘devastating’ cut of 1,300.”
Tackling the Federal Government Behemoth
The federal government currently has 15 departments. Only five of them existed before the beginning of the 20th century. Six of them have been created since 1960. No one can say how many federal government agencies, components, and commissions there are. Yes, you read that right. There is no definitive number. According to a 2017 Forbes article, the tallies of these entities ran from 61, from the Semiannual Regulatory Agenda, to USA.gov’s 443.
“No one can even say with certainty anymore how many federal agencies exist,” Forbes observed, “yet they make most of the law now rather than our elected Congress. And their drive to protect turf is quite high.”
Bear in mind that these figures are from eight years ago. How many agencies or commissions would any reasonable person believe have been eliminated since then? How many new ones created? Clearly, the federal government has become a sprawling behemoth, the size of which few, if any, can even measure.
Former President Bill Clinton, who has never been labeled a fascist, presided over the firing of some 400,000 federal workers. According to CNN, which has been tracking President Trump’s layoffs, “at least 49,793” federal workers have been let go since the beginning of the 47th president’s administration. That figure was last updated July 10, so it doesn’t include these latest State Department layoffs. We are up to around 50,000 personnel cuts, then. A mere drop in the federal employee bucket. The government is not exactly teetering on the brink of collapse. Other sources say the number of departures was already at about 60,000.
Some reports suggest Trump aims to cut more than 100,000 federal jobs in 2026. Even that would be like removing one branch from one tree in a forest. Many would argue – and with good reason – that we could cut half a million positions and the government would still be too big.
The anguish over the State Department layoffs and other acts of federal downsizing comes from those who not only pine for massive government, but who have spent decades populating it with left-wing ideologues. The parting shots from State Department employees serve as proof.
The Founding Fathers shared the same concerns conservatives and libertarians today express. But it seems they couldn’t conceive of a federal government with a staff of three million. Otherwise, they might have put constitutional limits on its size. Perhaps it’s a great shame they did not.
