The scorched earth approach of President Donald Trump and billionaire DOGE bro Elon Musk to dismantle the federal government in their image has reached the desks of America’s most-coveted national security operatives.
On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal broke the news that the administration sent a buyout offer to the entire workforce of the Central Intelligence Agency, asking employees to leave their jobs and receive eight months' severance. The CIA collects, analyzes, and disseminates information on economic, military, and political developments abroad to protect national security.
The offer was corroborated by a CNN report on Wednesday. Trump’s offer, up until Tuesday, had “not been made available to most national security roles in an apparent cognizance of their critical function to the security of the nation.” This is a stark departure from the other severance offers made to federal workers in January, which had sensibly excluded employees in crucial national security roles.
Later on Wednesday, the CIA sent the White House an unclassified email list of all the CIA employees hired in the past two years. The list, according to reporting by The New York Times, included first names and the first initial of their last name. The list reportedly focused on young analysts and operatives who were hired to hone in on China. It requested that the spy agency comply with Trump’s executive order to shrink the federal government.
“Conducting Chaos”
The agency is also freezing hiring for potential employees who were already given conditional offers, and CIA aides say some offers to recruits will also be rescinded.
A CIA spokeswoman told the Journal that the buyout was meant to “infuse the agency with renewed energy.” Meanwhile, an aide, who spoke anonymously, said to The New York Times that “the effort was meant to encourage some of the large group of officers who joined in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks to take an early retirement.”
Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, advised his constituents not to accept Trump’s buyout offer. In his Senate floor speech on Tuesday, he said his constituents represent 140,000 government workers in Arlington and Langley, Virginia, where the CIA and Pentagon are located.
“There’s no statutory authority that I can see for the president making this offer,” Kaine said in an interview with the Journal. “You should not raise your hand.”
Director John Ratcliffe of the CIA was appointed by Trump and sworn in to lead the agency on Jan. 23. He has remained radio silent about the gutting so far.
When Sen. Angus King, an Independent from Maine, asked about political “litmus” and “loyalty” tests during his January confirmation hearing, Ratcliffe promised to keep this kind of favor out of the agency he sought to lead.
So much for that.
This comes as foreign adversaries in Russia are rejoicing that unelected co-president Musk took over the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, infiltrating its offices and locking employees out of their computers. On Monday, Democratic lawmakers sent letters to the judiciary over “alarming reports” of Trump’s FBI pick, Kash Patel, calling for political retribution and for “grave concerns” over Trump’s removal from their posts of FBI and DOJ officials who investigated Jan. 6.
The implications are chilling. Trump’s moves aren’t just reckless, they’re potentially catastrophic for America’s national security at a time when its global security is becoming increasingly more fragile. As the CIA thins out its ranks, U.S. enemies are undoubtedly watching and celebrating.
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English (US) ·