Pentagon Set to Fire 5,400 Staff Next Week of 55,000 at Risk (2)

The Pentagon said it expects to cut 5,400 civilian probationary employees next week and freeze hiring as part of an initial effort to trim what could total tens of thousands of positions.

The Defense Department’s Friday announcement follows its plans shared earlier with lawmakers to slash roughly 55,000 civilian probationary employees worldwide as President Donald Trump seeks to whittle down the federal workforce, according to three people familiar with the interactions.

The hiring freeze will be maintained until the department conducts an analysis of its personnel needs, the Friday statement said. Between 5% to 8% of the Pentagon’s workforce is expected to be cut overall, the statement said. An 8% cut would total about 76,000 people.

It remains to be seen how many staff would receive exemptions, and lawmakers have requested additional data on the probationary employees, according to one of the people, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private communications. Probationary employees in the federal government are new to their job or are longer-term employees who have changed to a new position. One defense official cautioned the 55,000 is the pool of employees being examined for termination and not the final outcome.

Pentagon personnel officials directed the administration against announcing mass firings this week and instead advised them to analyze thoroughly the residual impact of individual firings on military readiness and families deployed overseas, the official said.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday confirmed in a video on social media site X that the Pentagon is carrying out “that review carefully and swiftly.”

“This revaluation of probationary employees is being done across the government, not just at the defense department,” he said. “Bottom line, it’s simply not in the public interest to retain individuals whose contributions are not mission critical.”

“When you look at headcount, we’re going to be thoughtful; but we’re also going to be aggressive up and down the chain to find the places where we can ensure the best and brightest are promoted based on merit,” Hegseth added. Those “who are the best and brightest are going to stay. Those who are underperformers won’t,” Hegseth said.

Still, Adam Smith, the ranking House Armed Services Committee Democrat, in a statement Thursday evening said “the lack of strategy” in the termination process “has further been made apparent by Secretary Hegseth’s and OPM’s” review “of a list of almost 55,000 probationary DoD employees to fire.”

“Our military services are being asked to dismiss the same civil servants that they have struggled to recruit and retain for years,” the congressman from Washington state said. “This is not about performance or strategically consolidating the national security workforce. This is about carelessly slashing the federal workforce in favor of political antics.”

The Department of Defense employs about 950,000 civilians. A Defense Department civilian career website promotes positions as “a multitude of opportunities requiring a diverse range of skills.”

“If a competitive salary, great benefits, unsurpassed training, and the pride of defending our Nation interests you, then your future is with DOD,” the site says.