The Pentagon is seen in October 2021. (Robert H. Reid/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — The first firings of Defense Department civilian probationary employees are expected to start next week, the Pentagon announced Friday.
“We expect approximately 5,400 probationary workers will be released beginning next week as part of this initial effort, after which we will implement a hiring freeze while we conduct a further analysis of our personnel needs,” said Darin Selnick, performing the duties of undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness.
Selnick said the Pentagon anticipates reducing the department’s civilian workforce by 5-8% as it refocuses the department on President Donald Trump’s “priorities and restoring readiness in the force.”
For the past week, defense officials have braced for the firings of probationary workers, which generally refers to people hired in the past year. CNN reported Friday that the Pentagon temporarily paused a plan to carry out mass firings of civilian employees that could affect more than 50,000 people.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a video posted on X on Thursday night that he will begin immediately to shift billions of dollars in the defense budget away from nonlethal programs in a reorganization of military priorities.
Hegseth’s comments come on the heels of reports that the Pentagon is looking to make sweeping reductions to its overall budget. The defense secretary said that is not the case.
“In short, we want the biggest, most badass military on the planet, on God’s green earth,” he said.
Hegseth also addressed reviewing probationary employees and said jobs won’t be eliminated in an across-the-board manner and performance will be considered.
“Common sense would tell us … we start with the poor performers among our probationary employees because it’s common sense that you want the best and brightest,” he said.
Federal employee probation typically lasts one or two years after hiring. Many of those employees haven’t had a performance evaluation, which usually comes after a year on the job.
“As the secretary made clear, it is simply not in the public interest to retain individuals whose contributions are not mission-critical,” Selnick said. “Taxpayers deserve to have us take a thorough look at our workforce, top to bottom, to see where we can eliminate redundancies.”
There are more than 950,000 civilian employees across the Defense Department, according to its civilian careers website.
