This story was updated at 6:55 p.m. Eastern on March 18.
Efforts to slash the Pentagon’s civilian workforce by more than 60,000 people are not proceeding as planned, thanks in part to a March 14 court order that could force the rehiring of thousands of probationary employees.
Adding to the turmoil: a personnel freeze that has placed in limbo untold numbers of Defense Department civilians who are moving into new roles, and in some cases moving between countries. Managers are awaiting guidance on how to apply for exemptions.
“Even in the hallways of the Pentagon, there is confusion and a general lack of knowledge,” one civilian, whose identity is being withheld to protect against retaliation, told Defense One.
On Feb. 28, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered his department to stop hiring new civilian employees and to halt transfers and promotions of existing employees. Hegseth, who oversees a civilian workforce of about 760,000 people, said he was the only person who could approve exceptions to the order, which went into effect on March 2.
On Friday, Hegseth signed a new order that allows one other person to review, and in some cases, approve exemptions: the defense undersecretary for personnel and readiness. “The Secretaries of the Military Departments may approve hiring freeze exemptions for the civilian workforce of their respective Military Departments after review by the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (USD(P&R)). USD(P&R) will review and approve all exemption requests for other organizations within the Department. This authority may not be further delegated,” the March 14 memo says.
The memo also provides blanket exemptions to the hiring freeze for shipyards, equipment depots, and medical treatment facilities.
Pentagon officials could not immediately say how long it will take to secure those exemptions. The Friday memo promises more detailed guidance on how to apply, but a Defense official who spoke to reporters on background Tuesday would not answer a question about when that guidance will be published.
The official also would not say how many exemptions had been received or approved thus far.
In the meantime, some civilians are living in hotels with their families, as their cars and household goods make their way to other countries, waiting for word on when they can rebook canceled flights to their new duty stations.
“The secretary is grateful for the commitment each of them has made to serve in these capacities,” the official said when asked what message he’d send to those civilians. “We understand the position of uncertainty that they’re in, and the best way to move forward is to be clearly communicating with their hiring authority and the relevant chain of command to ensure that we bring their unique circumstances in front of decision makers so they can be considered for exemptions in an expeditious manner.”
Meanwhile, the firing of thousands of probationary employees may be reversed, as a judge ruled Friday that 18 agencies—the Defense Department among them—must reinstate their fired staff.
“So what I can share today, because it’s the subject of ongoing litigation, is the department is committed to fully complying with every applicable court order regarding the process,” the official said.
The Pentagon had initially estimated it would fire 5,400 probationary employees. The official would not say how many have been let go.
Voluntary resignation
The deferred-resignation program—a plan fielded by the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency office—has gone somewhat more successfully, the official said.
The applications of about 21,000 department employees have been approved, he said, declining to provide the total number of applicants.
Some employees’ applications were rejected because they were considered too mission-critical for the program. Others are still waiting to hear back, more than a month after the application deadline.
“The DOGE decision was actually awesome for us, but our DOD activity is dragging its feet and not telling the employees anything, so our lives are still on hold,” one civilian told Defense One, weeks after opting for DRP. “At this point, we don’t even know if our application to resign/retire was accepted.”
The official clarified that all three of these personnel moves—the hiring freeze, the probationary-employee firings, and the deferred-resignation program—are part of the effort to reduce the department’s civilian headcount by 5 to 8 percent.
The department has historically hired about 6,000 people per month to replace departing employees, so the hiring freeze is expected to shrink the workforce by about that much, he said.
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