Pentagon prepares to fire more than 5,000 civilian employees in dramatic culling
The sweeping cuts — which could eventually extend to around 50,000 people — will gut civilians who have only been employed for one or two years and are still considered “probationary,” meaning the terminations aren’t tied to performance.
“It is simply not in the public interest to retain individuals whose contributions are not mission critical,” Darin Selnick, acting Defense undersecretary for personnel and readiness, said in a statement.
The cuts follow other massive firings at government agencies, largely spurred by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and its efforts to whack federal costs.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a
Thursday video message, said he welcomed the DOGE team when it arrived at the Pentagon late last week.
“They’re going to have broad access, obviously, with all the safeguards on classification,” he said.