US Federal Agencies Lose More Than 10,000 PhD Scientists as Political Turnover Accelerates

Federal scientific capacity in the United States suffered a steep contraction in 2025 when more than ten thousand holders of doctoral degrees in STEM and health disciplines exited government roles. That loss occurred against a backdrop of exceptionally high overall federal turnover—roughly 335,000 departures—yet PhD-level exits were disproportionately consequential because they carry concentrated technical expertise and long institutional memory. Multiple agencies reported sizable fractions of their specialized staff leaving, with some units losing retired veterans and voluntary quitters at far higher rates than through formal reductions in force. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded hundreds of departing STEM PhDs last year, only a minority of which were removed by direct agency orders. The Department of the Interior’s scientific components similarly saw the bulk of their skilled departures stem from people choosing to leave rather than being pushed out. Independent research funders and regulators, which previously relied on cohorts of career scientists, are now confronting gaps in technical leadership, program continuity, and peer review capacity. Rebuilding that expertise will be difficult: recruits with comparable qualifications may opt for nonfederal roles in academia, industry, or non-governmental organizations, especially if government work is seen as politicized or unstable. Short-term consequences include slower regulatory actions, diminished surveillance and response capabilities for public-health threats, and weaker in-house modeling and environmental assessment. Over the longer term, the practical knowledge lost when senior scientists depart can retard training pipelines, erode mentorship networks, and raise the cost and time required to restore program effectiveness. The data suggest this is not merely cyclical churn but a structural challenge to the capacity of agencies that perform core scientific functions for the country. Policymakers and agency leaders will face a choice between rapidly hiring contractors and contractors or investing in long-term strategies to attract and retain deep technical talent. Without decisive action to stem attrition and replace lost expertise, federal science and health programs risk diminished performance with implications for public safety and environmental stewardship.