FILE – President Bill Clinton, left, and Vice President Al Gore walk past two forklifts carrying reams of federal rules and regulations prior to making their reinventing government announcement, Sept. 7, 1993, at the White House in Washington.

J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/AP

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J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/AP

FILE – President Bill Clinton, left, and Vice President Al Gore walk past two forklifts carrying reams of federal rules and regulations prior to making their reinventing government announcement, Sept. 7, 1993, at the White House in Washington.

J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/AP

If you cut every single federal job President Donald Trump wants to cut, how much money would that save?

A president has tried to massively shrink the size of the federal government before. It was in the 90s, under a Democrat.

Today on the show: Where they found waste the last time we really looked. (Hint: it wasn’t jobs.) And why the pace of firings under Trump might start to slow down.

For more:
– Lessons for the Future of Government Reform
– Is government too big? Reflections on the size and composition of today’s federal government
– Creating a Government That Works Better and Costs Less

This episode of Planet Money was produced by Willa Rubin. It was edited by Jess Jiang and engineered by Jimmy Keeley. We had fact-checking help from Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer. Special thanks to Ben Zipperer.

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Music: Audio Network – “West Green Road,” “Raise Up,” and “Blue and Green.”