Trump initiates reductions at the CIA – NYT
According to the New York Times, Washington has begun to dismiss CIA employees as part of Donald Trump’s restructuring of government agencies. Read Full Article at RT.com.
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The process of terminating staff has reportedly commenced with the newest employees of the agency.
According to a report by the New York Times on Thursday, the administration of US President Donald Trump has initiated cuts to CIA personnel as part of a broader effort to streamline government agencies. The initial layoffs appear to focus on officers who were hired in the past two years, many of whom were still under probationary contracts.
Sources close to the situation revealed that several recently hired CIA employees were called to a location outside the agency’s Langley, Virginia headquarters, where they were instructed to surrender their credentials without prior notice. This wave of firings has allegedly caused anxiety among the remaining CIA staff, with some employees reportedly avoiding calls from security due to fears of being the next to lose their jobs.
A CIA spokesperson confirmed to the New York Times that some recently hired officers had been dismissed but did not provide specific numbers. She indicated that the terminations were performance-based, a sentiment echoed by several unnamed officials who spoke to the newspaper.
These reported layoffs occur amid Trump's initiative to reduce government personnel in a bid to eliminate wasteful spending, bureaucracy, and corruption. This campaign is being directed by the Department of Government Efficiency, led by billionaire Elon Musk. During the first cabinet meeting of his second term, Trump expressed his commitment to "cut down the size of government," arguing that federal agencies had become “bloated” and “sloppy.” On February 11, he signed an executive order focused on workforce optimization, which called for significant reductions across government agencies and limited hiring to essential roles.
This development also comes in the wake of a federal judge's ruling that allows CIA Director John Ratcliffe to terminate employees at will. In late February, Judge Anthony J. Trenga made a ruling regarding a lawsuit filed by employees who were let go after Trump’s directive to eliminate diversity programs in government agencies. This ruling effectively granted Ratcliffe the power to dismiss any CIA employee for virtually any reason without recourse to an appeal.
The Trump administration has previously taken actions against the US Agency for International Development, the primary channel for funding political projects abroad, which resulted in the dismissal of around 2,000 employees and placed nearly all remaining staff on leave. Additionally, a recent report from the Wall Street Journal indicated that Trump is preparing an executive order that targets the dismantling of the Department of Education, which he has consistently called a “big con job.”
Navid Kalantari contributed to this report for TROIB News
According to a report by the New York Times on Thursday, the administration of US President Donald Trump has initiated cuts to CIA personnel as part of a broader effort to streamline government agencies. The initial layoffs appear to focus on officers who were hired in the past two years, many of whom were still under probationary contracts.
Sources close to the situation revealed that several recently hired CIA employees were called to a location outside the agency’s Langley, Virginia headquarters, where they were instructed to surrender their credentials without prior notice. This wave of firings has allegedly caused anxiety among the remaining CIA staff, with some employees reportedly avoiding calls from security due to fears of being the next to lose their jobs.
A CIA spokesperson confirmed to the New York Times that some recently hired officers had been dismissed but did not provide specific numbers. She indicated that the terminations were performance-based, a sentiment echoed by several unnamed officials who spoke to the newspaper.
These reported layoffs occur amid Trump's initiative to reduce government personnel in a bid to eliminate wasteful spending, bureaucracy, and corruption. This campaign is being directed by the Department of Government Efficiency, led by billionaire Elon Musk. During the first cabinet meeting of his second term, Trump expressed his commitment to "cut down the size of government," arguing that federal agencies had become “bloated” and “sloppy.” On February 11, he signed an executive order focused on workforce optimization, which called for significant reductions across government agencies and limited hiring to essential roles.
This development also comes in the wake of a federal judge's ruling that allows CIA Director John Ratcliffe to terminate employees at will. In late February, Judge Anthony J. Trenga made a ruling regarding a lawsuit filed by employees who were let go after Trump’s directive to eliminate diversity programs in government agencies. This ruling effectively granted Ratcliffe the power to dismiss any CIA employee for virtually any reason without recourse to an appeal.
The Trump administration has previously taken actions against the US Agency for International Development, the primary channel for funding political projects abroad, which resulted in the dismissal of around 2,000 employees and placed nearly all remaining staff on leave. Additionally, a recent report from the Wall Street Journal indicated that Trump is preparing an executive order that targets the dismantling of the Department of Education, which he has consistently called a “big con job.”
Navid Kalantari contributed to this report for TROIB News
