An October 2, Undersecretary for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata issued a memo directing supervisors to expedite the removal of underperforming civilian employees. Image: Joshua Sukoff / Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe October 2025 government shutdown froze not only paychecks and programs, but also stalled the Pentagon’s most ambitious structural reforms in decades.
The 2025 shutdown, the 21st since 1977, diverges from past lapses in two critical ways. First, Reduction In Force (RIF) plans are being actively pursued during the shutdown window, creating a risk of permanent workforce reductions without the usual opportunity for reinstatement once appropriations return.
Second, the timing of the shutdown—just as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s broad reforms entered their execution phase—means the operational tempo of Defense Department reorganization is uniquely threatened. Previous funding gaps rarely intersected so directly with such wide-ranging structural changes.
According to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Pentagon contingency plans, about 334,900 civilian employees—roughly 45 percent of the department’s 741,000‑strong civilian workforce—have been furloughed. Only those supporting excepted activities remain on duty, often without pay for the duration.
Against that backdrop of widespread furloughs, Pentagon leadership moved to accelerate workforce cuts. On October 2, Undersecretary for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata issued a new memo directing supervisors to expedite the removal of underperforming civilian employees. The process:
- Does not require performance improvement plans (PIPs);
- Sets a seven-day deadline for employee responses after receiving a written proposed removal notice;
- Mandates a written decision from a deciding official within 30 days;
- Holds supervisors accountable for enforcing prompt removal;
- Offers eligible employees incentives for voluntary departure, including early retirement or separation packages
That workforce push came on the heels of late‑September directives from Hegseth—including the termination of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS) and new restrictions on public engagement—illustrate how his restructuring agenda was already reshaping the department as the shutdown began. Together with those restructuring directives, the Pentagon’s standing contingency guidance set the boundaries for what could continue once appropriations lapsed.
September’s Contingency Plan Guidance for Continuation of Operations in the Absence of Available Appropriations specifies that it will not be activated until directed by the Deputy Secretary of Defense or a designee. The document states, “Activities that are determined not to be excepted, and which cannot be performed by utilizing military personnel in place of furloughed civilian personnel, will be suspended when appropriated funds are no longer available.”
Immediate Effects of the Shutdown
Paperwork and Memos: Service personnel offices—Army G‑1, Navy’s NAVADMIN series, Air Force Personnel Center (AFPC), and Space Force’s STARCOM—halted publication of billet‑cut guidance. Draft directives sat idle, creating a backlog that will now arrive in bulk once funding resumes.
Nominations and Retirements: The Senate Armed Services Committee suspended hearings, delaying confirmations for AFRICOM, SOUTHCOM, and NORTHCOM leadership. Retirements already in motion were left unresolved, widening gaps at the top of commands slated for merger.
Public Transparency: Pentagon press briefings and congressional hearings were canceled, depriving reforms of visibility and public accountability. The absence of official updates left the field reliant on rumor and speculation.
Command Mergers: Planning for the proposed AFRICOM–EUCOM and NORTHCOM–SOUTHCOM mergers was effectively frozen during the shutdown, with integration work halted alongside other non‑excepted activities. Gen. Christopher Cavoli, commander of EUCOM and Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), is centrally affected by the potential EUCOM–AFRICOM consolidation. Internal discussions have identified him as the likely inheritor of a substantially enlarged combined theater if a “Euro‑Africa Command” is implemented. Officials say Cavoli has raised concerns about the feasibility and strategic risks of such a move.
TRADOC–Army Futures Command Merger: The planned absorption of Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) into the Army Futures Command also froze mid‑stream. Integration milestones, including program realignments and staff transfers, were suspended, leaving no progress on aligning budgets or personnel.
Civilian Workforce: RIF notices overlapped with furloughs, compounding uncertainty. Human resources offices were unable to process either reductions or recalls, leaving civilian staff in limbo.
After the Shutdown: What Resumes, What Doesn’t
When appropriations return, the Pentagon will not simply pick up where it left off. Instead, the restart will bring its own complications.
Paperwork Catch‑Up: When funding is restored, personnel offices will re‑issue weeks of delayed memos, often with retroactive effective dates. The result will be a flood of overlapping directives that risk confusion in the field and complicate implementation timelines.
Nominations and Retirements: Hearings will restart, but the backlog pushes confirmations into 2026. Acting commanders are likely to remain in place longer than planned, weakening advocacy in Washington and leaving merger‑affected theaters without permanent leadership.
Public Events and Hearings: Pentagon briefings and congressional hearings will resume, but in bundled form. Multiple commands may testify together, diluting focus on billet cuts and mergers. Transparency gaps will persist even after appropriations return.
Command Mergers: AFRICOM–EUCOM and NORTHCOM–SOUTHCOM timelines are expected to slip by one to two quarters. Gen. Christopher Cavoli at EUCOM and Gen. Dagvin R.M. Anderson at AFRICOM remain central to the proposed “Euro‑Africa Command,” while Gen. Gregory M. Guillot (NORTHCOM) and Adm. Alvin Holey (SOUTHCOM) face uncertainty under the “Americas Command” concept. The Army’s plan to fold Army Futures Command back into Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) remains targeted for the first quarter of fiscal 2026, but milestones will be compressed.
Civilian Workforce: Human resources offices face dual workloads: processing furlough returns while executing RIFs. When the shutdown ends, HR staff must process the recall of hundreds of thousands of civilian employees—reinstating pay, updating time and attendance records, re‑activating system access, and notifying employees of their return status. At the same time, OPM has clarified that RIF planning and notices are “excepted activities.” Agencies can issue RIF notices, prepare competitive‑area documentation, and move forward with separation timelines.
Workforce Fallout
For many civilian employees, the end of the shutdown offers little relief. Some are recalled to duty only to find a RIF notice waiting for them weeks later. The impact is felt most acutely in headquarters and support billets, which are often the first targeted in RIFs and also the hardest hit by furloughs. That means the same workforce is struck twice, compounding the disruption. At the same time, senior civilians with decades of institutional knowledge are choosing early retirement or leaving for more stable opportunities.
The October 2025 shutdown underscores how fiscal gridlock can ripple far beyond paychecks and programs, halting not only daily operations but also the Pentagon’s most ambitious restructuring in decades. With command mergers delayed, billets unfilled, and civilian reductions advancing alongside furlough recalls, the department faces a compressed and more fragile path forward once funding resumes.
Whether the Pentagon can recover lost momentum without sacrificing clarity or continuity will determine how this period is remembered—as a temporary pause or as a turning point in the trajectory of defense reorganization.
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