As the Trump administration’s DOGE team continues to cut federal workers, here’s a peculiar though: In some areas, adding—not cutting—staff might better help achieve his campaign promises and build a lasting legacy.
Let’s start with one of Trump’s highest priorities—stopping immigration at the southern border and deporting those here illegally. Early on, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was exempted from DOGE cuts, and military personnel were added to the border. Since then, illegal immigration has slowed dramatically—probably due to Trump’s rhetoric and the increased enforcement presence at the border. But that doesn’t mean Trump won’t push for more border agents. At some point, those troops may be needed elsewhere, or worsening instability in Central America could drive more people to the border, forcing a reassessment of enforcement needs.
Border patrol agents are not easy to hire. Few want to relocate their families to the southern border, Trump’s highest priority. Applicants must be eligible to carry a firearm, with military or law enforcement backgrounds preferred, and must pass extensive security checks to prevent infiltration by criminal groups. Now is the time to be recruiting and training new agents.
In addition to border patrol, Trump will need more immigration judges to ensure everyone in the U.S. is here legally. According to Dara Lind at the American Immigration Council, “For most immigrants—those who haven’t been apprehended shortly after their arrival—deportation isn’t a quick process. It generally entails the right to a hearing before an immigration judge, to prove that the immigrants lack legal status and can’t apply for relief (such as asylum).”
The U.S. immigration court system, staffed by approximately 700 active immigration judges, handles asylum and deportation cases. A 2023 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report found that each judge completes an average of 509.5 cases per year, while an estimated 447,009 new cases are filed annually, although that number could vary widely. With so few judges, many immigrants wait years in legal limbo before their cases are heard.
For fiscal 2025, the immigration court backlog is projected to reach 2,212,193 cases—far too many for just 700 judges to clear. Faster case processing would mean fewer immigrants released into the country, living in limbo for years. Moreover, not all of them will be granted asylum, and seeing rejected applicants return home will send a powerful message to others considering migration. Trump’s firing of 20 immigration judges in February is clearly moving this in the wrong direction and has done little to alleviate the problem.
In addition to his focus on immigration, Trump has prioritized extending his tax cuts and adding breaks for individuals who earn tips, overtime pay, and Social Security recipients. However, these measures will require substantial funding—far more than what could be saved by reducing the workforce at the Department of Education.
So, where could Trump find the money for these initiatives? One potential source is the Internal Revenue Service. The U.S. has long faced a “tax gap”—the difference between what should be owed to the government and what is actually collected. In 2022, that gap was approximately $600 billion, primarily due to individuals and businesses underreporting income, failing to file, or not paying the full amount owed. If the Trump administration is serious about funding tax cuts or border enforcement, improving tax collection would be a smart place to start.
However, the chainsaw mentality doesn’t allow for actual improvements. As my colleague Vanessa Williamson points out, the IRS layoffs affect about 6,700 probationary employees, with around 5,000 of them working on compliance. Some employees involved in modernizing IRS technology and handling call centers were also let go. About 3,500 of the fired employees were from the Small Business/Self-Employed Division. IRS officials claim these workers were “not critical” to this filing season, but it’s hard to verify this due to the lack of transparency around who was actually let go.
Another area where we could use more, not fewer, civil servants is the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). According to a March 3 letter from 39 House Democrats to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, on Feb. 17, the Trump administration fired approximately 400 “probationary” FAA employees, many of whom were in critical roles related to aviation safety. This move sparked controversy, especially given that it occurred less than three weeks after a deadly mid-air collision near Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport that killed 67 people. Additionally, it seems at odds with the 2024 FAA Reauthorization law, which calls for increased hiring of aviation safety inspectors, safety technicians, and operations support staff.
Although no air traffic controllers were fired in February, the FAA has faced significant challenges in recruiting, training, and retaining enough controllers. According to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), the FAA had 10% fewer certified professional controllers (CPCs) in September 2024 than in September 2012 (10,733 vs. 11,753). In 2023, the Department of Transportation found “20 to 26 (77%) critical facilities were staffed below the FAA’s 85% threshold, with the New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facility and the Miami airport tower at 54% and 66%, respectively.”
After a decade of steady losses and a series of close-call collisions that prompted the Biden administration to prioritize controller hiring, the FAA saw an increase in the number of CPCs and trainees in both 2023 and 2024. However, the agency will have to pursue “sustained maximum hiring” for at least the next five years to approach proper staffing levels, according to NATCA.
The FAA’s controller shortage increases risk to our national airspace system, which is already struggling to maintain outdated legacy equipment in a challenging operating environment.
The FAA’s 2023 safety review found that understaffing of controllers and other aviation safety professionals “places additional strain on the national airspace system, further eroding the margin of safety and increasing risk.” A former NATCA president testified that the FAA is “no longer the gold standard for aviation safety,” but adding more controllers and safety technicians would be a good starting point.
Immigration, tax collection, and air traffic control are just three areas in where the government needs to be hiring more people. To tackle immigration, Trump must hire more judges to address the case backlog; for tax cuts, increasing IRS staff to improve tax collection and education is key; and to ensure safe skies, addressing the air traffic controller shortage and building a strong workforce pipeline is essential.
Trump may soon discover that the Musk project is endangering other important administration priorities.