Jakarta, Indonesia Sentinel — The U.S. Department of Defense, Pentagon has become the latest casualty of cost-cutting measures under administration of President Donald Trump. Pentagon announced on Friday (February 21) that it will layoffs 5,400 civilian workers.
The layoffs at the Pentagon are set to begin next week as part of sweeping federal workforce reductions under President Donald Trump’s administration. Following the layoffs, the Government would also enforce a hiring freeze.
“We anticipate that around 5,400 probationary employees will be let go beginning next week as part of this initial effort. Following that, we will enforce a hiring freeze while we conduct further analysis of our personnel needs,” said Darin Selnick, a senior Pentagon official, as reported by Detik, on Saturday (February 22, 2025).
According to The Guardian, Selnick, who serves under the Deputy Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, stated that the reductions are aimed at increasing efficiency and restoring troop readiness.
“We anticipate a 5-8% reduction in the department’s civilian workforce to streamline operations, refocus the department on the president’s priorities, and enhance military readiness,” he said in a statement.
“It is simply not in the public interest to retain individuals whose contributions are not mission-critical. Taxpayers deserve a thorough review of our workforce from top to bottom to identify redundancies,” Selnick added.
Broader Layoffs
The upcoming layoffs represent only a fraction of the 50,000 Defense Department job losses that some analysts have predicted, suggesting that further reductions may be occur.
The Department of Defense is the largest federal agency, with the Government Accountability Office reporting in 2023 that it employed more than 700,000 full-time civilian workers. A 5-8% reduction could translate to between 35,000 and 60,000 job cuts.
These cuts are part of a broader government restructuring led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, whom Trump appointed to lead the Government Efficiency Agency (DOGE) tasked with slashing federal expenditures.
Probationary employees typically those who have been on the job for less than a year and have not yet gained full civil service protections are expected to be among the first affected.
Musk and his team have already laid off over 20,000 government employees and terminated several federal programs, ranging from foreign aid to financial oversight.
Shifting Budget Priorities
President Trump’s workers cuts has gain supports from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to The Guardian. He wrote on X last week that the Pentagon must “cut the fat (HQ) and grow the muscle (warfighters).”
Hegseth has also directed military branches to identify $50 billion in programs that could be eliminated next year to redirect funds toward Trump’s defense priorities. This figure represents approximately 8% of the military’s total budget.
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Many of the recently terminated employees across the federal government were hired within the past year and were therefore considered probationary, making them more vulnerable to layoffs. Government data indicates that roughly half of those affected live in states that voted for Trump in the 2024 election.
According to a Reuters survey, a majority of Americans fear that Musk’s cost-cutting measures, carried out under Trump’s directive, could disrupt essential government services.
As the Pentagon moves forward with its workforce reductions scheduled next week, the long-term impact of these decisions remains to be seen.
(Raidi/Agung)
