U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office

[douglas9]

Some 10,109 doctoral-trained experts in science and related fields left their jobs last year as President Donald Trump dramatically shrank the overall federal workforce. That exodus was only 3% of the 335,192 federal workers who exited last year but represents 14% of the total number of Ph.D.s in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) or health fields employed at the end of 2024 as then-President Joe Biden prepared to leave office.

The numbers come from employment data posted earlier this month by the White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM). At 14 research agencies Science examined in detail, departures outnumbered new hires last year by a ratio of 11 to one, resulting in a net loss of 4224 STEM Ph.D.s. The graphs that follow show the impact is particularly striking at such scientist-rich agencies as the National Science Foundation (NSF). But across the government, these departing Ph.D.s took with them a wealth of subject matter expertise and knowledge about how the agencies operate.

https://www.science.org/content/article/u-s-government-has-lost-more-10-000-stem-ph-d-s-trump-took-office

[xocetaceans]

1. That is a terrible loss to this country. And Trump is adding insult to injury by now claiming in his stump speech . . .

. . . that all of those discarded government workers (scientists, etc.) love him because they now have jobs in the private sector. (That is a paraphrase of what he said in Clive, IA, late this afternoon, January 27, 2026.)