Pete Hegseth Indicators Memo to Shrink Protection Division’s Workforce

Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memorandum on Friday that goals to shrink the Protection Division’s civilian headcount, saying on X that it might assist make the DOD “extra environment friendly and incentivize prime performers.”

In a press launch, the DOD stated the memo — dubbed the “Initiating the Workforce Acceleration and Recapitalization Initiative” — acknowledged that the division would “realign the scale” of its civilian workforce and “strategically restructure it to supercharge our American warfighters.”

“The online impact shall be a discount within the variety of civilian full-time equal positions and elevated sources within the areas the place we want them most,” the memo stated, per the DOD.

As a part of the initiative, the division will embrace automation and search to chop down on “duplicative efforts” and “extreme” paperwork, it added.

Within the memo, Hegseth additionally known as for the reopening of the deferred resignation program, which beforehand provided some full-time staff the possibility to resign with full pay and advantages, and to supply voluntary early retirement to eligible civilian staff.

“Exemptions ought to be uncommon,” Hegseth stated within the memo. “My intent is to maximise participation in order that we are able to decrease the variety of involuntary actions that could be required to realize the strategic targets.”

The memo didn’t give a goal proportion for layoffs. The DOD, which employs greater than 950,000 civilians serving in 94 totally different nations, stated in February that it deliberate to cut back its civilian workforce by 5 to eight%.

It comes as a part of a wider push to chop federal authorities spending spearheaded by President Donald Trump’s Division of Authorities Effectivity.

Hegseth introduced earlier this month that following a DOGE evaluation, the DOD could be terminating greater than $580 million in applications, contracts and grants.