Pentagon Announces Plan to Reduce Civilian Workforce by at Least 5%
The U.S. Department of Defense announced on Friday that it intends to reduce its civilian workforce by at least 5%, as part of the Trump administration’s stated goal of reducing the number of federal employees.
In a statement, senior Pentagon official Darren Selnick said that the purpose of eliminating these positions is “to enable us to be more efficient and refocus the department on the president’s priorities.”
He added, “We expect to lay off approximately 5,400 probationary employees starting next week as part of this initial effort. After that, we will implement a hiring freeze while conducting further analysis of our staffing needs.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated the previous day that “it is not in the public interest to retain these employees,” emphasizing that he wants to focus on probationary employees with “poor evaluations” who are easier to dismiss.
Hegseth also announced that the committee led by Elon Musk (Doge) would have “broad access” to the Pentagon to target Democratic policies, particularly those that promote diversity.
Trump tasked billionaire Elon Musk with making significant cuts in public spending, drastically reducing the number of government employees, and eliminating programs that encourage the inclusion of women and minorities.
