DOGE Cuts Cut Black Women's Federal Jobs by 25%, Study Finds

The Department of Government Efficiency's 2025 workforce reductions cut Black women's federal employment by 25% — a statistically isolated effect among demographic groups, according to a University of Maryland study by labor economist Brandon Enriquez.

At the April 2025 low point, Black women's federal employment had fallen nearly 50% from pre-cut levels, with "little effect for other groups," Enriquez found. Months brought a partial rebound, but the cuts widened racial inequality in federal hiring, given the historic overrepresentation of Black workers in government.

For former Health and Human Services grant management specialist Darnese Foster, 47, the statistics translate into a daily reality of more than 100 job applications, six months of unemployment benefits, and a mental health burden that clinical psychologist Raquel Martin frames as trauma.

"I had finally gotten my dream job," Foster said. "It was devastating to have it snatched from me."

Foster was among the probationary employees terminated in February and March 2025, after President Donald Trump's January 2025 executive order eliminated diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and empowered Elon Musk's DOGE to reshape the federal workforce. She had worked at HHS for one year and seven months when IT staff told her she was locked out of her account on a Tuesday after Presidents' Day weekend.

"He said, 'You didn't get a phone call from your supervisor?'" Foster recalled. "'Well, unfortunately, your name was on the list of names that was denied access.'"

What the demographic data shows

A May 2025 report by Sarah Javaid for the National Women's Law Center documented who absorbed the cuts. Women made up 46% of the total federal workforce in September 2024, but a majority of staff at Veterans Affairs, Education, HHS, Treasury, and Housing and Urban Development.

People of color comprised 46% of probationary workers overall, including 65% at Treasury, 55% at HUD and Homeland Security, and 53% at HHS, the report found. That composition helps explain why DOGE's reductions registered so heavily for Black women.

A 2022 study by epidemiologists Meghan Tipre and Tiffany L. Carson in the journal Women's Health Reports found that Black women report higher baseline psychological stress than white women and carry a disproportionate burden of chronic conditions linked to stress. Their focus-group work identified single parenting, Black children's safety, and finances as the top stressors.

What job loss does beyond the paycheck

Martin, a licensed clinical psychologist who focuses on Black mental health, said abrupt termination operates as both a financial and traumatic stressor.

"It's the sudden loss of predictability and control, identity, community, and even future planning," Martin said. "There's a significant association between unemployment and increased depression, anxiety, and psychological distress."

Since her firing, Foster has braided hair and consulted on political campaigns to cover expenses. She lost the contents of her storage unit after she could not pay the fees. Her 10-year-old daughter still takes dance lessons, but Foster can no longer afford competition entry fees. Her 23-year-old daughter and her mother now help pay household bills.

"I feel like I'm almost 50 and I'm way behind," Foster said. "I don't have a life insurance policy to leave my kids. No savings."

What the policy debate reflects

Martin argues the layoffs' mental health fallout exposes a structural problem: Black women often serve as the household breadwinner and caregiver while policy decisions compound their stress.

"Mental health is affected by policy decisions, economic instability, and access to health care and employment protection," Martin said. "The solution can't be only telling Black women to cope better with the trash circumstances that they didn't create in the first place."

Foster continues to meet with a mental health practitioner and lean on prayer. The Enriquez study does not project a full recovery curve, but the partial rebound through mid-2025 suggests Black women's federal employment will track future DOGE decisions and agency hiring patterns in the months ahead.