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The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has announced a buyout program offering some employees eight months of pay and benefits to voluntarily leave the agency.
Some shit you should know before you read: Shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump launched an initiative to reduce the federal workforce by 10%, aiming to shrink the size of the government and cut costs. As part of this effort, the administration offered buyout packages across multiple federal agencies, providing employees with up to eight months of pay and benefits to voluntarily resign. The plan was framed as a way to streamline government operations and align the workforce with Trump’s policy priorities, though it faced criticism from unions and lawmakers who argued it could weaken essential government functions. Despite concerns about its long-term impact, the buyout offers were extended to a wide range of federal workers, except for those in critical national security roles.
What’s going on now: In an announcement, the CIA confirmed that it was moving forward with buyout offers for some employees as part of a broader effort to restructure its workforce and align with President Trump’s national security priorities. Eligible employees who choose to leave will receive eight months of pay and benefits. At the same time, the agency has implemented a hiring freeze, halting the onboarding process for individuals who had already received conditional job offers. Some of these offers may be rescinded if the applicants do not meet the shifting criteria of the agency’s new strategic focus. The administration believes these changes will make the CIA a more effective intelligence-gathering force, while critics argue the buyouts are a way to push out career officers who may not align with the administration’s agenda.
This comes as Trump’s new CIA Director, John Ratcliffe, is leading a major shift in the agency’s mission. The CIA is now moving away from its post-9/11 counterterrorism operations and instead prioritizing espionage related to trade negotiations, countering China’s global influence and aggressively targeting drug cartels. Ratcliffe has framed these changes as a reinvigoration of the agency, stating that those who do not support its new direction should consider leaving.
Lawsuit filed: Amid the CIA’s offer, the Trump administration is facing a lawsuit from the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest federal employee union, which argues that the buyouts are arbitrary, unlawful, and lack proper legal authority. The lawsuit, filed against the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), claims the administration violated the Administrative Procedures Act by rolling out the offer without securing proper funding or considering the broader impact on government operations.
The AFGE also says that the buyouts are being used as a pretext to remove career civil servants on ideological grounds rather than as part of a structured workforce reduction plan. Additionally, the lawsuit raises concerns that the program may violate the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits the government from committing funds beyond what has been allocated in the federal budget.
