The Department of Defense (DoD) has cut nearly 21,000 civilian employees as part of its ongoing workforce reduction effort, with about 40,000 more cuts needed to meet its goal of trimming up to 8 percent of its civilian workforce, according to a Pentagon official.
Overall, the DoD aims to reduce its civilian workforce by 5 to 8 percent, in line with the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency workforce optimization efforts to shrink the Federal workforce. This would cut 50,000 to 60,000 positions from the department’s nearly 900,000 civilian employees.
The 21,000 cuts stem from employees voluntarily joining the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP), which has been the largest part of the DoD’s workforce reduction effort. The DRP is a voluntary program allowing eligible employees an approximate eight-month paid transition period, ending Sept. 30, 2025, during which they will generally not be expected to work.
“We’re still placing some of those volunteered and accepted employees on administrative leave now, but again, very few of them would actually be removed at this point because, you know, one of the desirable aspects of the program that led to some volunteering is the ability to be paid on admin leave until whatever the formal end date is,” the DoD official told reporters today.
The Pentagon is also considering layoffs, particularly of probationary employees, to meet its workforce reduction goal. However, this plan is currently under litigation after the Pentagon aimed to cut 5,400 probationary civilian workers last month.
A Federal judge in Maryland temporarily blocked the Pentagon’s plan, ordering the employees to be placed on paid administrative leave, while a California judge ruled for their reinstatement. The Trump administration is appealing both decisions.
Due to the litigation, the DoD official said the department cannot comment on the planned layoffs but clarified that the employees were targeted for performance-related issues. While he would not specifically state that these employees were reinstated, the official did state that the DoD “is committed to fully complying with every applicable court order regarding the process.”
While it’s not expected to impact workforce reduction efforts, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth implemented a civilian hiring freeze, halting the hiring of about 6,000 civilians per month, or roughly 70,000 annually.
In a recent memo, Hegseth granted the Army, Navy, and Air Force secretaries the authority to request exemptions for civilian hires at key “readiness locations,” with the military services and the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness (USD(P&R)) able to approve them if necessary.
“While the Department remains under the hiring freeze, DoD will only hire mission essential employees into positions that directly contribute to our warfighting readiness,” he wrote.
The Pentagon’s civilian hiring freeze has been in place since March 2, following Hegseth’s directive to support President Donald Trump’s effort to reduce the Federal workforce. The freeze follows a Jan. 20 executive order from Trump temporarily halting civilian Federal hiring, with exceptions for military, public safety, and benefit-distributing agencies.
Although the DoD received a “blanket exemption,” allowing normal hiring and onboarding to continue, Hegseth is still moving forward with the president’s civilian workforce reduction plans.
According to the memo, USD(P&R) will publish additional guidance governing hiring freeze exemption requests.
