The Pentagon introduced plans Friday to fireside 5-8% of its civilian workforce, staring subsequent week with layoffs of 5,400 probationary employees, a Division of Protection official mentioned in a assertion.
The preliminary civilian layoffs can be adopted by a Division of Protection hiring freeze to research the navy’s personnel wants in compliance with Donald Trump’s political targets, Darin Selnick, the performing under-secretary of protection for personnel and readiness, mentioned within the assertion.
“We anticipate lowering the division’s civilian workforce by 5-8% to provide efficiencies and refocus the division on the president’s priorities and restoring readiness within the pressure,” Selnick mentioned.
“It’s merely not within the public curiosity to retain people whose contributions should not mission-critical. Taxpayers need to have us take an intensive have a look at our workforce top-to-bottom to see the place we are able to get rid of redundancies.”
The announcement of sweeping firings of civilian employees was adopted by Donald Trump’s firing of the present chairman of the joint chiefs of employees, Normal CQ Brown Jr.
The preliminary Pentagon job cuts deliberate for subsequent week are a fraction of the 50,000 protection division job losses that some had anticipated, however they won’t be the final. The protection division is the most important authorities company, with the Authorities Accountability Workplace discovering in 2023 that it had greater than 700,000 full-time civilian employees.
A 5-8% reduce in that pressure would imply layoffs of between 35,000 and 60,000 folks.
The announcement of the cuts comes after staffers from Elon Musk’s “division of presidency effectivity” initiative, or Doge, had been on the Pentagon earlier within the week and obtained lists of such workers, US officers mentioned. They mentioned these lists didn’t embrace uniformed navy personnel, who’re exempt.
Probationary workers are usually these on the job for lower than a yr and who’ve but to realize civil service safety.
Protection secretary Pete Hegseth has supported cuts, posting on X final week that the Pentagon wants “to chop the fats (HQ) and develop the muscle (warfighters).”
Hegseth additionally has directed the navy companies to establish $50bn in applications that may very well be reduce subsequent yr to redirect these financial savings to fund Trump’s priorities. It represents about 8% of the navy’s price range.
Most of not too long ago terminated workers all through the federal authorities started their present place within the final yr and had been due to this fact thought of probationary, giving them much less job safety. Roughly half of them reside in states that voted for Trump within the 2024 election, authorities figures present.
The Related Press and Reuters contributed reporting
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