The Central Intelligence Agency has offered buyouts to its entire workforce as part of an effort to align with President Donald Trump’s priorities, according to reports from the Wall Street Journal and CNN. The agency is also freezing the hiring of job applicants who have already received conditional offers, with some offers likely to be rescinded if applicants do not meet the agency’s new goals. These goals include targeting drug cartels, addressing Trump’s trade war, and countering China.
An unnamed CIA spokesperson stated that the buyout offers are part of Director John Ratcliffe’s strategy to ensure the agency workforce is responsive to the administration’s national security priorities and to infuse the agency with renewed energy. The specific details of who will be eligible for the buyout offers are still unclear, and certain operations or areas of expertise may be restricted.
The decision to include the CIA in a government-wide buyout program comes amid President Trump’s efforts to downsize the federal workforce and replace civil servants with more loyalists. Unions representing government employees have filed a lawsuit to block the administration’s plan to offer buyouts to federal workers.
Ratcliffe, who previously served as Director of National Intelligence, has indicated that the CIA under Trump’s leadership will have a greater focus on the western hemisphere and countries that are not traditionally considered US adversaries. The overall goal of the Trump administration, as outlined in Project 2025, is to reduce the size of the federal workforce and replace many employees with political appointees.
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