According to a study by the Brookings Institution
[T]he true size of government has grown by 1.1 million jobs since 1999. Although military personnel and postal employment inched up during the period, almost all of the growth has occurred in two categories: contract and grant-generated jobs….[C]ivil service employment actually fell by almost 50,000 jobs from 1999 to 2002. During the same period contract-generated jobs went up by more than 700,000 jobs and grant-generated jobs by 333,000.
Total Civil Servants………………1,756,000
Total Contractors…………………5,168,000
Total Grantees……………………2,860,000
Total Military Personnel…………1,456,000
Total Postal Service…………………875,000TOTAL TRUE SIZE
OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT…….12,115,000