By Jonathan Landay and Erin Banco
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government sent buyout offers to the employees of at least four U.S. intelligence agencies in addition to the CIA as President Donald Trump’s drive to shrink America’s federal workforce gathered steam on Wednesday.
The Republican president has deputized Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, to lead the overhaul. The effort has panicked workers, sparked public protests and led Democrats to accuse the billionaire of leading a government takeover.
The four additional agencies whose personnel have received buyout offers are the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, National Security Agency, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the National Reconnaissance Office, spokespeople at those agencies said.
The number of workers affected was not clear because the figures are classified for the largest agencies. The three that disclose the data have about 19,500 staff.
The Central Intelligence Agency late on Tuesday said its workforce received buyout offers in a move aimed at aligning the country’s premier spy service with the goals of its new director, John Ratcliffe.
The White House last week offered 2 million civilian full-time federal workers an opportunity to stop working this week and receive pay and benefits through Sept. 30.
It was not immediately known if the terms offered to intelligence personnel were the same.
The ODNI, which employs fewer than 2,000 people, was created after the September 11, 2001, attacks to oversee the 18 agencies that comprise the U.S. intelligence community.
It was not clear if any of the remaining 13 were included in the initiative by late Wednesday. The NGA and NSA are formally part of the Defense Department.
‘DIDN’T HAVE THE SPINE’
Some former intelligence officials are concerned that the agency could lose highly experienced staff and weaken intelligence collection and analysis.
They also share fears of some Democratic lawmakers that those who leave will be replaced by loyalists who fashion intelligence to bolster Trump’s views and policies.
“I am deeply concerned that my colleagues didn’t have the spine to stand up to this,” said a former senior intelligence official, who asked to remain anonymous to discuss sensitive matters.
The former official added that many intelligence officers who have developed expertise over years “could now be replaced by those who don’t have that background.”
Trump has had a rocky relationship with U.S. intelligence agencies over findings that Russia interfered in the 2016, 2020 and 2024 presidential elections to sway the vote to him.
In his January 15 Senate confirmation hearing, Ratcliffe vowed not to fire or force out CIA employees for their political views or opinions of Trump, who frequently has attacked the agency and its assessments.
(Reporting by Jonathan Landay and Erin Banco; Editing by Humeyra Pamuk and Cynthia Osterman)
Comments