The Pentagon on Friday said that it will layoff 5,400 individuals as President Donald Trump oversees the restructuring of the federal workforce. The job cuts are expected to take place next week.
A top official, Darin Selnick, said that the Pentagon will put hiring on hold and could ultimately slash its civilian workforce by 5 per cent to 8 per cent. Currently, the civilian workforce stands at 950,000 individuals, reported Reuters.
These job cuts are a mere fraction of the 50,000 job cuts at the Defense Department. The overhaul of federal agencies is being overseen by President Trump and Elon Musk. So far, over 20,000 workers have been laid off and multiple programs have been dismantled across the US government from foreign aid to financial oversight, reported Reuters.
The latest cuts come a day after some Republican lawmakers faced criticism from voters who expressed their frustration with the aggressive layoffs.
On Friday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ordered the transfer of 1,500 employees out of the Washington headquarters to offices around the country, the report said citing sources.
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Legal Struggles And Re-hirings
However, legal resorts to place the layoffs on hold have not yielded results so far. Federal judges have declined to stop the job cuts and on Friday, a judge allowed the Trump administration to put over 2,000 workers at the US Agency for International Development on leave. The US Supreme Court did place a restriction on the President from immediately firing the head of the Office of Special Counsel, an independent watchdog agency.
The report noted that the government also had to rehire those it fired in some cases, including workers who oversee nuclear safety and bird flu response. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that it would recall employees it fired earlier who oversee a health plan for 137,000 people sickened by toxic exposure post the September 11, 2001 hijacking attacks.
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