Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivers recorded remarks from his office at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., Feb. 20, 2025. DoD says it will cut around 50,000 jobs in the government’s largest department. The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement. Image: DoD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Alexander Kubitza
By: FEDweek StaffThe Defense Department has said it expects to cut its civilian employment by between 5 and 8 percent, which would translate into about 38,000-62,000 jobs in the government’s largest department.
That was to begin with the layoffs of about 5,400 probationary employees starting February 28 “after which we will implement a hiring freeze while we conduct a further analysis of our personnel needs,” said a statement from Darin Selnick, performing the duties of under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness. However, the day before a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on the government wide dismissals of probationary employees, leaving DoD’s planned terminations in limbo for now.
The statement came in the wake of a video posting from DoD secretary Pete Hegseth who spoke of the reduction in terms of improving efficiency by culling out under-performers.
“We’re starting with the poor performers among our probationary employees because it’s common sense that you want the best and brightest,” Hegseth said. “So, when you look at headcount, we’re going to be thoughtful; but we’re also going to be aggressive up and down the chain to find the places where we can ensure the best and brightest are promoted based on merit.”
The statement from Selnick added, “As the Secretary made clear, it is simply not in the public interest to retain individuals whose contributions are not mission-critical. Taxpayers deserve to have us take a thorough look at our workforce top-to-bottom to see where we can eliminate redundancies.”
In other agencies firing probationary employees, however, references to performance in the layoff notices have tended to be boilerplate statements that their performance does not merit their continued employment, not specifically citing issues with the individual’s work record. A pending lawsuit contends that violates a regulation stating such a notice must specify the agency’s “conclusions as to the inadequacies of his performance or conduct.”
That suit and another further contend that layoffs targeting probationary employees violate rules requiring that reductions in force be structured only by organizational units and geographic areas.
DoD had some 770,000 employees as of the most recent OPM figures through last August, of whom about 69,000, or 9 percent, had less than one year of service. The number of probationary employees likely is somewhat higher, since in some cases the probationary period lasts longer than one year.
Neither the video nor the statement elaborated on the hiring freeze. A general government-wide hiring freeze has been in effect since the start of the administration and but is projected to be replaced within several months with a policy of filling only one in four positions vacated by normal turnover. However, both the current general freeze and the executive order anticipating modifying it allow for exceptions for “national security” jobs, which would apply to a large share of the DoD civilian workforce.
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See also,
Top 10 Provisions in the Big Beautiful Bill of Interest to Federal Employees
A Pre-RIF Checklist for Every Federal Employee, From a Federal Employment Attorney
Work Longer or Take the FERS Supplement Now: Which is Better?
Doubling Your TSP (C Fund vs G Fund)
