Washington, September 26, 2025 (Agencies): More than 60,000 civilian employees have departed the US Department of Defense (DOD) under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s workforce overhaul, but Pentagon officials remain tight-lipped on the impact of the sweeping cuts.
Nine months into the Trump administration’s second term, Hegseth’s campaign to shrink the Pentagon’s civilian workforce has reduced headcount by about 7.6 percent, surpassing his initial target of 5–8 percent set in March. While officials confirmed the scale of reductions, they offered little detail on the consequences, leaving analysts and employees concerned about declining productivity, strained operations, and falling morale.
The cuts were executed through buyouts, early retirements, a hiring freeze, and dismissal of probationary employees. A Pentagon official disclosed that 55,000 workers accepted buyouts under the Deferred Resignation Program, while 6,100 took early retirement. Some branches, such as the US Space Force, reported disproportionate losses, with 14 percent of its civilian staff leaving. Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman warned the reduction had stripped away vital expertise in acquisitions.
Criticism has mounted from within the DOD workforce. One civilian employee, speaking anonymously, accused Hegseth of having “declared war on his civilian workforce,” creating distrust and labeling staff as “untrustworthy parasites until proven otherwise.”
The overhaul has also triggered legal and logistical challenges. Courts initially halted the firing of thousands of probationary employees before the Supreme Court allowed the practice to continue, albeit with safeguards. Meanwhile, a department-wide hiring freeze forced managers to rescind thousands of job offers. In some cases, employees were stranded in hotels overseas for weeks, unable to transition to new assignments due to blocked transfers.
Despite repeated pledges of transparency, the Pentagon has refused to provide updated workforce figures, cost estimates, or a timeline for lifting the freeze. The only official baseline remains 799,000 civilian employees as of January 1, before downsizing began. By Pentagon calculations, the current workforce stands at roughly 737,900—still short of the FY2026 budget target.
Defense leaders, however, insist the reductions are necessary to cut redundancy and refocus resources. Former Pentagon spokesperson John Ullyot earlier defended the initiative, saying taxpayers “deserve to have us take a thorough look at our workforce top-to-bottom.”
Still, uncertainty continues to ripple across the DOD’s vast civilian workforce. Employees complain of confusion, stalled careers, and rising workloads. As one affected worker put it, “These words are hollow and have no meaning.”