Pentagon To Cut Up To 60K Jobs As Defense Secretary Hegseth Assures Military Readiness Won't Be Affected

The Department of Defense (DoD) is set to reduce its civilian workforce by 50,000 to 60,000 jobs, as part of a wider initiative by the Trump administration to cut down on the size of the federal workforce and restructure U.S. government agencies.

To reach these cuts, the Defense Department is using three main methods -- encouraging voluntary resignations, firing probationary workers, and leaving positions unfilled as employees naturally leave, Associated Press reported.

The department aims to reduce its civilian workforce by 5-8%, which currently exceeds 900,000 employees.

As part of this plan, nearly 21,000 workers have already accepted a voluntary resignation offer earlier this year. These workers, who took the so-called "Fork in the Road" buyout, will leave in the coming months.

The department did not specify how many people requested voluntary resignations, but confirmed that the vast majority of requests were approved, reported The Hill.

The cuts will also impact some military veterans, though the exact number is unclear. An official stated that these reductions might affect thousands of veterans.

"In the extreme, you could have 10 of 10 experts in a certain field all participate, and if you just blindly accepted all the applications and approved them, you'd have a lot of unintended consequences," the official said.

Concern about impact on military readiness

One of the main concerns is the possibility of service members being asked to take over jobs left vacant by the civilian workforce cuts.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, however, emphasized that the cuts would not harm military readiness. He added the department was carefully reviewing personnel, ensuring that critical national security roles were not affected.

Additionally, Hegseth has allowed military branches and Defense Department leaders to grant exemptions where needed.

Job freeze and court challenges

The Defense Department normally hires about 70,000 civilians each year, or around 6,000 a month. However, it is unclear how many of these positions will be eliminated as the department has control over which jobs are subject to the hiring freeze.

The Pentagon had also planned to cut probationary workers, targeting 5,400 of the 54,000 such employees. However, these cuts are currently on hold due to legal challenges.

Federal courts have ruled that many of these workers must be rehired, citing problems with how the layoffs were handled.

These cuts are part of a broader strategy to shrink the federal workforce and streamline government agencies, a plan backed by President Donald Trump and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who has been advising the Department of Government Efficiency Services.