Pentagon aims to cut up to 60,000 civilian jobs. About a third of those took voluntary resignations
Mar 18, 2025
By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Roughly 50,000 to 60,000 civilian jobs will be cut in the Defense Department, but fewer than 21,000 workers who took a voluntary resignation plan are leaving in the coming months, a senior defense official told reporters Tuesday.
To reach the
goal of a 5% to 8% cut in a civilian workforce of more than 900,000, the official said the department aims to slash about 6,000 positions a month by simply not replacing workers who routinely leave.
Related Articles
National Politics |
Do you need a reservation to get into Yosemite this summer? The Trump administration isn’t saying
National Politics |
SpaceX cybersecurity engineer tapped for Fannie Mae board amid shakeup
National Politics |
IRS agents who investigated Hunter Biden given promotions at the Treasury Department
National Politics |
Arizona Supreme Court taps AI avatars to make the judicial system more publicly accessible
National Politics |
Gabbard says Trump is committed to ensuring peace and security through ‘realism and pragmatism’
A key concern is that service members may then be tapped to fill those civilian jobs. But the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide personnel details, said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wants to ensure the cuts don’t hurt military readiness.
The cuts are part of the broader effort by the Department of Government Efficiency Service, including billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk, to slash the federal workforce and dismantle U.S. agencies. ...read more read less