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Defense One, Policy, Bradley Peniston, Executive Editor, March 29, 2025
Senior Defense Department leaders have less than two weeks to submit proposals to shrink and reorganize their commands, agencies, and departments, Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a memo that also proffered early-retirement and deferred-resignation deals to eligible civilian employees.
The March 28 memo launches the latest phase of Hegseth’s rushed and rocky effort to shrink the department’s civilian workforce. When he took office in January, DOD employed about 760,000 civilians; within weeks, officials had announced plans to cut that number by five to eight percent.