The Central Intelligence Agency has offered buyouts to its entire workforce in an apparent bid to align with President Donald Trump’s ambition to purge government departments.
CIA agents who accept the buyout conditions would receive eight months of pay, along with all their benefits and entitlements, in exchange for their resignations.
Two million federal employees were last week offered a generous buyout scheme under the new Trump administration, as he looks to cut waste and reshape federal offices across the nation.
The agency does not disclose its budget or the number of people it employs.
A CIA spokeswoman told the Wall Street Journal that the decision to offer the buyout broadly across the whole department was part of an effort to ‘infuse the agency with renewed energy.’
The agency is also freezing job hiring, and any conditional offers already sent out have been paused. Many of those are likely to now be rescinded, insiders warned.
The report of buyout offers is in line with a massive makeover of the U.S. government embarked on by the Trump administration, which has fired and sidelined hundreds of civil servants in first steps toward downsizing the bureaucracy and installing more loyalists.
Newly appointed CIA Director John Ratcliffe gave staff a blunt warning after he was sworn in following Trump’s inauguration.
The Central Intelligence Agency has offered buyouts to its entire workforce in an apparent bid to align with President Donald Trump ‘s ambition to slash government departments
The report of buyout offers is in line with a massive makeover of the U.S. government embarked on by the Trump administration
He vowed to bring about harder-edge spying and covert efforts to tackle drug cartels and Chinese adversaries.
‘To the brave CIA officers listening around the world, if all of that sounds like what you signed up for, then buckle up and get ready to make a difference,’ he said.
‘If it doesn’t then it’s time to find a new line of work.’
Meanwhile, the two million federal employees who were initially offered the buyout scheme have just two days to make their decision under the current deadline set by officials.
In addition to receiving their salary and retaining all benefits during this time, workers who accept will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30.
President Trump has ordered all other federal workers back to the office, finally signaling an end to the work from home measures which were required during Covid.
The emailed offer includes instructions on how to accept: select ‘Reply’ and ‘Type the word ‘Resign’ into the body of this email and hit ‘send.’
The memo says Trump ‘will insist on excellence at every level.’
It also notes that the majority of federal agencies ‘are likely to be downsized,’ and that ’employees will be subject to enhanced standards of suitability and conduct as we move forward.’
This is a breaking news story. More to come.
