During his 2016 campaign, then-GOP nominee Donald Trump ran on a platform of “draining the swamp,” a catch-all term for dramatically reducing the size of the entrenched federal bureaucracy.
He made the same appeal in 2020, pleading with voters to give him another term so he could continue reducing the size of the bloated federal workforce, but Joe Biden defeated him.
Now, four years later and with the experience of a complete term under his belt, Trump not only made a similar pledge during his successful 2024 campaign, but now that he’s won with a clear mandate, he is preparing to put in place a plan that will cut into the so-called “deep state.”
In March 2023, Trump announced his intention to relocate federal jobs outside of Washington, D.C., as part of a broader commitment to dismantling federal bureaucracy. “Continue Trump administration effort to move parts of the federal bureaucracy outside of the Washington Swamp, just like President Trump moved the Bureau of Land Management to Colorado,” his campaign said.
“Up to 100,000 government positions could be moved out of Washington,” the statement added.
Trump has since doubled down on that figure. “As many as 100,000 government positions can be moved out — and I mean immediately out — of Washington to places filled with patriots who love America,” Trump said in a video breaking down his agenda.
