This story is part of a series – A region reshaped: Federal layoffs in Maryland a year later.
Some civil rights activists and Maryland lawmakers said the federal government’s removal of data tracking the race and gender of its workforce impedes efforts to identify exactly who has been impacted by last year’s mass layoffs.
“I think the message is clear,’’ said Del. Denise Roberts, D-Prince George’s. “They don’t want us to know, and that’s an abomination.”
As part of its campaign to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, the federal government has deleted or made private demographic data for workers in those groups, making it nearly impossible for states, including Maryland, to track the impact on specific populations.
Federal civilian jobs comprised approximately 6% of all jobs in Maryland, Gov. Wes Moore said in a statement last February.
According to data from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), 46% of federal workers nationwide were women and 41% were people of color as of September 2024. The probationary workforce, which experts say is at greater risk of being fired, had even greater percentages of people from the groups.
The federal government does not provide the exact demographic breakdown of Marylanders within its workforce, but about 51% of Maryland’s population is female and roughly 32% of the state population is Black, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
Sarah Javaid, a senior research analyst at the National Women’s Law Center, compiled a report that showed federal workers who belonged to protected groups — groups receiving special legal or policy protections based on personal characteristics — could be particularly vulnerable to being laid off.
“Folks are hearing and experiencing exactly what this report says is happening, which is that it’s women and people of color, particularly a lot of Black women, who are being pushed out of the federal workforce,” Javaid said.
OPM, an independent agency that oversees federal civil service, was the primary agency tracking demographic data. In March 2025, OPM removed both current and historic data on diversity indicators, including information related to race, gender and sexuality.
In a statement then, the OPM described its intent to end “wasteful programs and policies promoting divisive DEI and gender ideology” and said its reform is about “streamlining operations, restoring merit, and ensuring that the federal government works for the American people.”
But Javaid called it “a huge blow to our ability to do these types of reports and bring attention to this issue.”
Responses to questions about gender identity and sexuality dating back more than a decade were redacted last year after President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”
In its most recent report, the OPM provides just four demographic indicators for the federal workforce: median age, retirement eligibility, veteran status and education level.
“This is most definitely an attempt by the administration to hide what they’re doing and also who is impacted by their actions,” Javaid said
OPM also stopped administering its annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, which evaluated overall workplace culture in the federal government and provided benchmarks of progress.
In addition, previously recorded diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility data was scrubbed, including questions on whether an organization met workers’ accessibility needs and whether workers felt they were provided equal opportunities to advance.
According to a Maryland Department of Labor spokesperson, the state does not record its own demographic information.
Last year’s layoffs were particularly detrimental to women because the federal workforce offers more opportunities for promotion, supervisory positions and pay raises than in most private sector businesses, according to Javaid.
“It is going to be very hard to recover from this, particularly when we look at the departments and what they do,” she said. “It’s not easy to just turn around and get those systems back up and working. It’s a lot of infrastructure that has been attacked.”
Roberts said she was concerned about the impact on her constituents in Prince George’s County, where 62% of the population is Black.
“What’s happening in Washington is not only unfair, it’s just unconscionable,” she said. “These [layoffs] affect real people, real lives, people who have mortgages, people who have to pay the rent, people who have children. What are they supposed to do now?”
Capital News Service reporter Rhiannon Evans contributed to this story.