The CIA on Tuesday has become the first intelligence agency to offer buyouts to its entire workforce, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The buyouts are reportedly the latest attempt by the Trump administration to slash federal spending and purge employees who did not align ideologically with the president.
An agency spokesperson told Newsweek that the buyout offer was part of a "strategy to infuse the Agency with renewed energy." "Director [John] Ratcliffe is moving swiftly to ensure the CIA workforce is responsive to the Administration's national security priorities," they added.
Why It Matters
On January 28, federal employees across multiple agencies received an email from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), offering to pay them full salary and benefits through the end of September if they resigned before February 6.
But postal workers, military members and those serving some national security roles, including the CIA, were excluded from the offer at the time. Now it appears that the buyout offer has been extended to include the intelligence service.
As of Tuesday, around 20,000 federal employees, of the 2.3 million working for the federal government, had accepted the offer, Axios reports.
What To Know
The CIA has told its staff that they can receive the same buyout deal as other agencies; resign now and get severance and benefits paid through September 30. It has also reportedly paused new hires, including those who had already received conditional offers.
Ratcliffe, the new CIA director, had urged the White House to offer the same deal to his staff as it had the other federal agencies, in an attempt to remove employees who did align with Trump's vision for the CIA, a Ratcliffe aide told the Journal. That vision reportedly includes a more aggressive agency focusing on drug cartels, which Trump recently classified as terror groups.
The CIA chief, former director of national intelligence, had told senators during his confirmation hearing that the agency is "not where we're supposed to be."
He spoke of the importance of adopting advanced technologies and focusing on threats like the drug cartels and China.
"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 told lawmakers last month. "If it doesn't, then it's time to find a new line of work."
Trump's Justice Department has begun removing FBI agents and prosecutors tied to high-profile investigations of the former president, marking a shift in the federal government's law enforcement priorities.
On Friday, acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove ordered the firing of several DOJ prosecutors in Washington, D.C., who were handling cases against those charged in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The directive came days after Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people convicted in the 2021 siege.
What People Are Saying
Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine told the Journal: "There's no statutory authority that I can see for the president making this offer. The administration immediately knows, you don't want to work for me. They'll find some other way to get rid of you. You should not raise your hand."
Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, told reporters last week: "A significant number of federal workers have accepted the buyout offer."
Kaine said on the Senate floor last month: "Don't be fooled by a fake offer. That because he's terrorized you in the last week it would be easy to just resign now and get a check for seven months. Because I can tell you, that promise is worth nothing."
Texas Representative Jasmine Crockett, a Democrat, via X last week: "Trump is offering a fake 'buyout' to federal workers with no guarantee he won't screw them the minute they accept—and then replace them with unqualified, inexperienced loyalists the second they leave."
What's Next
The deadline for most federal workers to tender their resignation is Thursday. It is not clear if CIA agents and staff must decide by the same day.
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