Pentagon Set To Fire 5400 Workers As Backlash Trails US President Trump’s Downsizing Plan
The cuts, due to take place next week, are a fraction of the 50,000 Defense Department job losses that some had anticipated but they might not be the last.
The Pentagon said on Friday it would cut
5400 jobs as part of United States’ President, Donald Trump’s drive to slash the federal workforce, a day after some Republican lawmakers faced jeers back home from voters angry about the aggressive effort.
The cuts, due to take place next week, are a fraction of the 50,000 Defense Department job losses that some had anticipated but they might not be the last.
One top official, Darin Selnick, said the Pentagon will implement a hiring freeze and could ultimately reduce its 950,000-strong civilian workforce by 5% to 8%, Reuters reports.
The cuts are the latest in a fast-moving overhaul led by tech billionaire Elon Musk that has laid off more than 20,000 workers and dismantled programs throughout the U.S. government, from foreign aid to financial oversight.
Legal challenges have had mixed results so far, as federal judges have declined to stop the layoffs.
A federal judge on Friday cleared the way for Trump to put more than 2,000 workers at the U.S. Agency for International Development on leave.
However, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked Trump from immediately firing the head of the Office of Special Counsel, an independent watchdog agency.
Also on Friday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation ordered 1,500 staffers to be transferred out of its Washington headquarters to offices around the country, according to two sources.
Roughly one in four FBI employees currently work in Washington, according to government figures.
In some cases, the Trump administration has scrambled to rehire those it has fired, including workers who oversee nuclear safety and bird flu response.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it would recall previously fired workers who oversee a health plan for 137,000 people sickened by toxic exposure following the September 11, 2001 hijacking attacks.
The CDC also said it would reinstate two research contracts it had cancelled to investigate cancer rates among emergency responders after it faced criticism from Democrats and Republicans in Congress.
