OUR REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT:

With fiscal pressures continuing to force spending cuts, government agencies made fewer than 90,000 new hires last year, the smallest number in six years and a 37 percent drop since 2009, federal data show. [...]

The drop in hiring comes as agencies face a wave of retirements by baby-boomers, who are calling it quits amid budget cuts, furloughs and poor morale caused by a negative public view of federal service.

Not just retirement-age workers are leaving, but younger employees who tend to move in and out of government. A total of 115,341 people left the federal rolls in 2012, up from 83,317 departures in 2009, OPM data show. About 25,600 more people left than were replaced, challenging agencies to think harder about who they hire and make hard decisions about which services and functions to pull back.

Follow @brothersjudd