The Department of Defense is preparing to cut between 50,000 and 60,000 civilian jobs, a senior defense official said Tuesday, according to the Associated Press—news that comes weeks after Pentagon leadership said it would aim to cut between 5% and 8% of its civilian workforce as part of a sweeping federal government staffing reduction.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, left, and his wife Jennifer Rauchet arrive before President Donald ... [+]
It was not immediately clear when the cuts would be made, but the defense official—who spoke anonymously—reportedly said the department will aim to cut about 6,000 positions monthly by not hiring to replace workers who routinely leave.
The positions being eliminated include workers who voluntarily resigned earlier this year and will be leaving in the coming months, the AP reported, with the defense official saying fewer than 21,000 workers voluntarily resigned.
The cuts come as a number of other departments have been slashing their workforces under the guidance of the Department of Government Efficiency and Elon Musk, which have been working to decrease government spending.
Late last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a memo obtained by The Washington Post that the DoD’s budget would “resource the fighting force we need, cease unnecessary defense spending, reject excessive bureaucracy, and drive actionable reform including progress on the audit.”
Forbes has reached out to the Department of Defense for comment on the reported cuts.
This story is developing and will be updated.
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More than 900,000. That’s how many employees are part of the DoD’s civilian workforce, according to the AP. To cut between 5% and 8% of that, the Pentagon will have to cut between 45,000 and 72,000 people.
Pentagon aims to cut up to 60,000 civilian jobs. About a third of those took voluntary resignations (Associated Press)