The United States Department of Defense announced on Friday (February 21) that it will start cutting 5,400 probationary employees and implement a hiring freeze starting next week. This is part of the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal workforce in order to enhance efficiency and productivity.
Officials in the U.S. government had earlier disclosed that employees from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had visited the Pentagon earlier this week and obtained a list of employees to be laid off. The list does not include active-duty military personnel, as they are not affected by this policy.
Probationary employees typically refer to new employees who have been in their positions for less than a year (in some units, it may be two years) and have not yet acquired civil service protections. The process of terminating their employment is simpler, making them a focal point for many organizations when it comes to downsizing.
Acting Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Darin Selnick stated in a release that the Department expects to reduce the number of civilian employees by 5% to 8% to enhance efficiency and refocus the Department on the President’s policy priorities and restoring military readiness.
Currently, the Trump administration is undertaking massive layoffs in the federal government. For example, the U.S. Forest Service has cut around 2,000 employees, and the Internal Revenue Service is expected to lay off 7,000 people.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth released a video on Thursday previewing the layoff actions, stating, “Retaining employees who do not make critical contributions to the mission does not serve the public interest.”
Hegseth added, “Taxpayers have a right to demand that we thoroughly review our personnel structure from top to bottom, comprehensively examine it, identify and eliminate redundancies.”
Hegseth also mentioned that a “hiring freeze” has been put in place for all Pentagon employees, using this time to establish a “performance-based personnel standard” and ensure that the “most outstanding, brightest employees receive promotions.”
He stated that the Pentagon will enhance efficiency and achieve the goal of “seeking peace through strength” by rebuilding the military, restoring the warrior ethos, and rebuilding deterrence.
“As we move forward with this plan… we will make the U.S. military once again the most lethal and formidable armed force on earth to ensure the nation’s security,” he said in the video.
The Department of Defense is the largest government agency in the United States. According to data from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2023, the Department of Defense has more than 700,000 full-time civilian employees.
Furthermore, Hegseth instructed the military departments to reduce spending by $50 billion and reallocate these funds to Trump’s defense priorities. This cut represents about 8% of the U.S. defense budget.