Pentagon Readies Initial Job Cuts as President Fires Top Military Leaders

The Department of Defense (DOD) is accelerating efforts to cut its civilian workforce, as President Trump fires top members of the military. 

First to the job cuts. The Pentagon is set to fire 5,400 probationary workers this week, in line with other agencies who have sacked workers on probation. The first wave of firings is billed as the “initial effort.”

According to a statement, the Pentagon will then implement a hiring freeze while it studies further workforce reductions. About five to eight percent of its approximately 764,000 strong civilian workforce could end up getting cut. 

That would amount to job cuts of about 61,000. 

“Taxpayers deserve to have us take a thorough look at our workforce top-to-bottom to see where we can eliminate redundancies,” said Darin Selnick, who is Performing the Duties of Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness.

The statement from Selnick comes after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted a video on the upcoming cuts, saying he’s looking to cut poor performers on probation first. 

“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,” said Secretary Hegseth. 

Military Leaders Fired

The Pentagon cuts come on the heels of President Trump firing a slew of top military leaders including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General CQ Brown, top Navy officer Admiral Lisa Franchetti, Air Force Vice Chief of Staff General Jim Slife, and the judge advocates general of the Army, Navy and Air Force. 

According to the Associated Press, Brown’s public support of Black Lives Matter after the police killing of George Floyd had made him fodder for the administration’s wars against “wokeism” in the military. Brown is the second African American to be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff following General Colin Powell. 

The President said he’s nominating Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine to be the next chairman. While General Caine has had a distinguished military career, he has not held positions required by law as prerequisites to the job such as Vice Chairman, a combatant commander, or service chief. Those requirements however can be waived by the president. 

On the firings of the judge advocate generals, Secretary Hegseth said they were let go because he didn’t think they were “well-suited” to provide recommendations when lawful orders are given.

Democrats React 

The firings irked Congressional Democrats who warned of national security consequences.

“A clear message is being sent to military leaders: Failure to demonstrate personal and political loyalty to Trump could result in retribution, even after decades of honorable service,” wrote Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee. “The firings are sure to create a dangerous ripple up and down the ranks. Leaders might hesitate to refuse illegal orders, speak their minds about best practices or call out abuses of power.”