The Pentagon is seen in October 2021. (Robert H. Reid/Stars and Stripes)

WASHINGTON — Democratic lawmakers are warning the Defense Department is preparing to fire tens of thousands of civilian workers — many of them veterans — in a “tsunami of layoffs” that could pose a risk to national security.

More than 70,000 civilian personnel are being targeted for a mass firing similar to the terminations of probationary employees recently carried out at multiple federal agencies, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Thursday during a news conference.

Affected jobs could span logistics, equipment maintenance, aircraft repair and information security, he said.

“This will inevitably impact defense readiness,” Blumenthal said. “There’s a domino effect that will extend across the military. People get demoralized and disillusioned. Costs go well beyond dollars and cents.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., speaks Feb. 26, 2025, during a joint hearing of the Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs committees. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

The Pentagon already announced last week that it plans to terminate 5,400 workers in a first phase of cuts. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had said he expected the reductions would impact 5% to 8% of the civilian workforce. He also said a hiring freeze will be implemented after the layoffs while a review of staffing needs at the Defense Department is conducted.

The review will help identify “low-impact and low-priority” programs that could be eliminated, according to the department. Robert Salesses, acting deputy defense secretary, stated the initiative would reallocate $50 billion in fiscal 2026 to reflect the priorities of President Donald Trump’s administration.

Blumenthal, who was joined by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said a memo on Trump’s budget “relook” for fiscal 2026 contains a list of proposed budget reductions amounting to an 8% to 10% cut of the existing Defense Department budget estimate of $876 billion. Fiscal 2026 starts Oct. 1, 2025, and runs through Sept. 30, 2026. The senators did not provide the memo.

Blumenthal and Kaine are members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Blumenthal also sits on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday to consider John Phelan as Navy secretary, Blumenthal criticized cuts to the civilian workforce proposed in the memo that include reductions of more than 70,000 personnel and $70 billion in spending.

“The administration appears to be undertaking a first wave — part of a purge — an 8% slash to both the budget and defense workforce. I view it as a breathtaking act of disrespect. The administration branded these positions as non-mission critical,” he said.

Phelan said the proposed budget cuts are for planning purposes only and the reductions will come from non-warfighting elements.

At the same time, the House this week approved a budget framework that would allocate an additional $100 billion for defense spending in the next decade as part of Trump’s domestic agenda. The Senate advanced its own budget blueprint last week that calls for an extra $150 billion for the military.

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the administration is reviewing the entire 2026 defense budget.

“This process will enable [Hegseth] to offset needless and distracting programs – such as those focused on climate change and DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] – and direct focus on important warfighting priorities shared by the Congress,” he said. “I have spoken with President Trump repeatedly, and he intends to deliver a desperately needed military rebuild and Pentagon reform agenda.”

Blumenthal and Kaine also said they sent a letter to Trump signed by 21 Democratic senators to voice concern about the impact of the pending cuts on morale in the military and veterans.

Veterans make up about 30% of the federal workforce but comprise nearly half of the Defense Department’s civilian workforce, which totaled more than 789,000 employees in June 2024, according to the department’s Defense Manpower Data Center.

Trump’s administration already has carried out firings at several federal agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, as part of a larger workforce reduction to bring down costs by reducing the size of government.

Kaine described the terminations as a war on veterans.

“I think Donald Trump in six weeks has achieved the record of having fired more veterans of any president of the U.S., and he’s not done. He wants to do much, much more,” he said.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., speaks Feb. 13, 2025, during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

Kaine said some of the probationary employees have worked for the federal government for years but are new to their roles after receiving promotions for good performance.

He said his office learned about the experience of a Marine Corps veteran who transferred to the Agriculture Department after joining the Defense Department as a civilian worker in 2024. He was recently laid off in the mass firing of probationary workers, Kaine said.

At a separate news conference Thursday, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and Senate Armed Services Committee, also condemned the firings as causing “needless pain” and creating chaos for the nation’s veterans.

Blumenthal and Kaine called on Trump to restore the jobs of impacted veterans and provide them with back pay and benefits.