Trump and Musk plan to slash federal spending. A closer look at how they aim to do it.

President-elect Donald Trump has floated establishing a “Department of Government Efficiency” to make steep cuts to the U.S. federal budget and appointing allies billionaire Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to run it.

Musk has said he would eliminate 30% of spending in the $6 trillion budget and Ramaswamy has said he wants to lay off half of all federal workers.

Here’s a closer look at the federal workforce, the federal budget, and where the money goes.

More: Trump taps Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy to lead new 'Department of Government Efficiency'

How many people work for the federal government?

More than two million civilians are working in the federal government today, data from the White House reveals. No other company or organization in the U.S. employs more workers.

That number of employees is up 7% since 2019, according to the Partnership for Public Service. That’s attributable to hiring construction and engineering staff to run projects funded by 2022’s infrastructure bill.

Relative to the U.S. population, the size of the federal workforce is smaller than it has been at many other points in the past.

Today, federal workers comprise 0.6% of the population, compared to 1% in the 1960s and 2% in the 1940s.

How much of the budget goes towards paying workers?

According to data from the Congressional Budget Office, pay and benefits for federal workers in 2022 cost $271 billion, making up only 4.3% of that year’s budget.

If those workers were paid equally to private sector workers, their pay would make up a 10% share of the budget, data shows, with non-college-educated federal workers earning more than they would in the private sector but those with degrees making less than they would outside of government.

What are the demographics of federal workers?

Federal workers, as a collective, are older than the average worker, with 42.5% of them above the age of 50, according to CBO. Only 33.2% of workers at large in the U.S. are over 50.

They’re more likely to have a college degree than the general workforce—54% hold at least a bachelor’s degree compared to 40% of the general working population.

They’re also much more likely to have served in the military—about 30% of federal employees are veterans, while only around 5% of U.S. workers in general are.

Which agencies does the government spend the most on?

70% of civilian federal employees work in agencies with ties to national security—the Department of Veterans Affairs (with close to half a million employees), the Department of Homeland Security, the Armed Services, and the Department of Justice, according to reporting from Reuters.

Where do most federal workers live?

According to Reuters, only around 20% of federal workers are in Washington, D.C., with the rest living and working throughout the country.

Reuters contributed reporting to this story.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump and Musk plan to slash federal spending. A closer look at how.