The CIA is planning to cut at least 1,200 jobs with thousands of other jobs being eliminated in other parts of the U.S. intelligence community, including the National Security Agency, as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to streamline the federal government.
The staff reductions would take place over several years and be accomplished in part through reduced hiring, The Washington Post reported Friday. No firings are envisioned. The goal of a roughly 1,200-person staff reduction at the CIA includes slightly more than 500 individuals who have opted for early retirement, a person familiar with the matter told the Post.
“These sweeping, reckless cuts of experienced intelligence personnel by the Trump administration will undoubtedly undermine our ability to detect and respond to threats and make America less safe,” Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told the Post.
A former senior intelligence official told the Post the staff reductions at the CIA, if managed properly, would not be disruptive — particularly if they are focused on underperforming employees. The reductions appear to represent roughly 5% of the CIA’s approximately 22,000-member workforce.
“That does not seem that out of line,” the former official said.
At the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, more than 100 people have taken an early resignation offer that would see them get paid through Sept. 30. Tulsi Gabbard, who leads the agency, has been reviewing the numerous intelligence centers under her purview — focused on topics such as terrorism, counterintelligence and weapons proliferation — for either staff reductions or folding them into other agencies.
A total of several thousand positions would also be cut from the NSA; the Defense Intelligence Agency; the National Reconnaissance Office, which designs and operates spy satellites; and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which analyzes satellite imagery and provides targeting data to U.S. troops, according to the plans described to the Post.
The reductions are separate from the efforts of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency that is restructuring the federal government by eliminating waste and fraud.
“Director [John] Ratcliffe is moving swiftly to ensure the CIA workforce is responsive to the Administration’s national security priorities,” a CIA spokesperson said in a statement to the Post. “These moves are part of a holistic strategy to infuse the Agency with renewed energy, provide opportunities for rising leaders to emerge, and better position CIA to deliver on its mission.”
Ratcliffe and Gabbard have pledged to streamline their agencies and have abided by Trump’s Inauguration Day executive order by eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Nineteen employees at the CIA and ODNI sued in federal court to stop their dismissals, and a federal judge in late March issued a temporary injunction halting the firings.
Gabbard’s office said in a news release Friday that the elimination of all DEI programs and policies at the agency saved taxpayers approximately $20 million annually. By closing the agency’s Human Capital Office after discovering it operated “as a slush fund for DEI initiatives,” approximately $150 million annually will be saved.
Gabbard also directed the NSA to remove its “Pride Glossary” from intelligence community servers, “which was filled with sexually explicit DEI terminology unrelated to protecting American security.”
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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