The Pentagon wields the chainsaw and prepares to cut back on its civilian contracts

The United States Department of Defense (DoD) is prepared to eliminate between 50,000 and 60,000 civilian jobs, according to an official source from the department.

This news comes weeks after Pentagon leaders announced they planned to reduce between 5% and 8% of their civilian workforce as part of a broader cut in federal government personnel.

The exact timing of the cuts has not been specified, but the source indicated that the Department of Defense will seek to eliminate around 6,000 positions each month, without replacing workers who routinely leave their positions.

These cuts will mainly affect employees who have already voluntarily resigned this year and who will leave their positions in the coming months. It was reported that fewer than 21,000 workers left their positions voluntarily.

These cuts come amid major efforts by several government agencies to reduce their workforces, under the guidance of the Department of Government Efficiency and Elon Musk, who are pushing for cuts to reduce government spending and make the state much more efficient.

At the end of last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent a memorandum stating that the Pentagon's budget “will provide the necessary resources for the combat force” and that unnecessary defense spending would be eliminated, excessive bureaucracy would be rejected, and a reform would be promoted that includes advances in the department's audit.

According to a report, more than 900,000 people are part of the Department of Defense's civilian workforce, meaning that to meet the goal of cutting between 5% and 8%, the Pentagon would have to eliminate between 45,000 and 72,000 jobs.

On March 4, the Pentagon published an article reviewing “some of the initial findings” of DOGE within the Department of Defense.

The article mentioned that around 80 million dollars had been wasted on programs that did not support the core mission of the department responsible for the country's defense.

Among the highlighted cuts were 1.9 million dollars allocated to diversity, equity, and inclusion transformation and training, 6 million granted to the University of Montana to “bridge divisions” and 3.5 million to support diversity and equity groups from Human Resources Defense.

DOGE has led personnel and budget cuts across the federal government since Donald Trump assumed the presidency in January 2025.

However, historically, the Department of Defense has not faced significant budget cuts.

In a February memorandum, Hegseth had directed Pentagon leaders to plan an 8% annual budget reduction over the next five years.

However this plan excluded 17 categories that the Trump administration wanted not to be cut, such as operations on the southern border, nuclear weapons modernization, and the acquisition of single-use attack drones.

Other federal agencies that have faced massive layoffs since Trump took office include the Department of Education and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Despite reports of personnel cuts at the Pentagon, Hegseth has not yet publicly commented on the reports of civilian personnel reduction, but in February he said he would welcome Musk and DOGE at the Pentagon to improve efficiency.

Hegseth added that the Department of Defense would work “in coordination” with DOGE and that they would not make decisions that would be detrimental to the operational or tactical capabilities of the United States.