As part of the “data dump” that takes place around the time that the President submits the annual federal budget request, we finally have some official data on the degree to which the U.S. Department of Transportation employee headcount has already been reduced.

As of last week, the Federal Transit Administration’s head count was 30.1 percent below the level on January 20 of this year (from 791 down to 553). The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was second, at a 25.4 percent reduction, from 792 to 591. And the Federal Highway Administration was third, dropping from 3,034 people to 2,273 (a reduction of 25.1 percent).

These numbers reflect the initial firings of DEI staff and probationary employees, and the first round of “fork in the road” deferred retirements. They do not reflect the second round of fork-in-the-road, nor do they reflect the coming reduction-in-force (RIF) layoffs that will accompany a departmental reorganization plan.

The Office of the Secretary has seen a 17.3 percent reduction, from 1,994 to 1,649 staff, and the Office of Inspector General was next, at 16.4 percent (from 403 to 337).

Although the Federal Aviation Administration’s cuts were the most numerous at 854 (from 46,595 down to 45,741), that is because of the sheer size of that mode. The FAA’s actual percentage reduction was only 1.8 percent.

Overall, the Department has seen its personnel count shrunk by 4.8 percent, with nearly 2,800 departures.

See the table below for details.